A Love Forged By Blades And Souls
by Ten Commandments
Summary: Cassandra meets a man name Link, and together they travel with others to destroy Soul Edge while falling in love. But they soon realize how much trouble their love will bring them because of an old flame. Chapters 1-9 have been reduxed. LinkxCass, MaxixTaki.
1. Two Comrades A New

_**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**_

Kenshin: This chapter is a redux.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur 2, or Zelda.

_**Chapter 1: Two Comrades a New**_

* * *

It is a timid day in the town of Rukongoux. The townspeople are all busy working and setting things up to keep everything nice and steadily. Despite the world at war with the demon spirit sword called Soul Edge, normal people are able to enjoy a peaceful life like this. That's when he shows up; a cloaked figure can be seen a yard away walking towards the town, looking at the strange surroundings as he enters. He notices people watching him, and ignored it, and the voices.

"There's another traveler.."

"He looks dangerous..."

"He has a sword on his back..."

The person ignores these whispers, keeping his attention to more important matters. He says, "Before I continue I better find a place to eat."

The stranger makes his way to the nearest pub, hoping to get something to eat. As he goes inside, he finds himself quickly becoming the center of attention. Those who were busy doing things they normally do in the morning have stopped just to see the new guy. Said cloaked figure makes his way towards the front counter, and pulls out a bag where he keeps his currency. Digging inside he takes out some pieces of gold. "How much for your best meal?"

The waitress looked back at the menu. "I think you got enough."

After purchasing his meal, he sits patiently until it comes, ignoring the whispering behind his back. Once it comes he begins to chow down. "This tastes good. I wish the advice on those shards were as good as the food here."

His mumbling didn't go unnoticed; the bun-haired waitress leans in closer to speak to him. "Uh, sir. May you be a rock collector?"

The cloaked figure raises his head to look up at her. "Huh? No, what makes you say that?"

"Well you mentioned looking for shards. What were you referring to?" she asks, a bit curious now.

"Oh, the shards I'm looking for are the shards of Soul Edge," He announces in a firm strong voice. The people in the pub all hear him, mostly because they were intent on eavesdropping on this particular stranger. One such person includes a girl in a white and blue outfit, complete with skirt and brown stockings. She has emerald eyes that shine in the sky, and blonde hair that stops short at her neck.

"Wait, you mean the shards that give the owner ultimate power, the shards of the strongest and most evil sword in the world?" she asks, now a bit worried about the guy.

The stranger continues eating, stopping for a moment to say, "Yup. You must know a lot about it."

"Which means if you're gonna be so open about looking for them, that must mean you already have a couple on you, eh?" A guy comes up behind the cloaked man, with a couple of his buddies. They each brandish a knife, or a spear.

The man simply looks back at them. "And what if I do?"

"Think of it as a tip for your meal! That's worth more than your life, right?" The big guy says, drawing closer to him. The cloaked figure places his fork onto the table, and turns completely to face them. A smile grows on his face, though it's hardly noticeable.

"Let's see you try." The nearest guy lunges his blade at him, only to have the man grab his hand, move it aside, and punch him in the throat. As he fell to the floor another knife is about to pierce the stranger, but it misses and he gives a side kick to his attacker's chest. The cloaked man then elbow drops his head, bashing him into the floor. The last one pulls onto his cloak to get a good stab in, but the man leaps out of the coat and lands a punch right in his face. He follows up with three more to his gut, and a final uppercut to his chin. The victim falls to the ground unconscious.

But in the heat of battle his cloak has fallen off, to reveal a man around the age of 20 or so. He has blonde-brownish hair under a green cap, with a green tunic to keep it stylish. He wears brown boots, white pants with it, a sword with a purple handle on it, and the bluest eyes you would ever see. Covering the sword is a metal shield with symbolic decorations, the most prominent being the golden triangle and the red bird. Everyone stares at him, or infact the only thing on him that didn't look normal. His ears are pointed, giving off the appearance of elves from the stories they've read.

The elven man walks over to the waitress to enjoy what was left of his meal. After two minutes of silent eating, because everyone was too shocked seeing his ears to make a move, he quietly pays for his meal and walks away. He picks up his hood and continues towards the next town, finding more people staring at him. His search for the next town becomes his most general objective, so much so he doesn't notice a stranger in the dark following him. The pair of eyes belongs to the girl from before, who continues to trail him in secret.

'He doesn't seem like much, but he laid down the smack down on those bastards earlier, barehanded. He has those cute ears though, I just want to touch them, to see if they're real.' She becomes so lost in thought that she didn't notice that he disappeared from her sight. "Where did he go? Dammit."

"Nice day to stalk, isn't it?" She turns around, and finds the man she was following has somehow caught onto her stalking him. She tries to think of something to keep him off bay or allow her to escape, but she keeps feeling herself staring into his big blue eyes. The feeling she's gaining from just looking at him is making her all warm and fuzzy. "Who are you?"

"Uh, um...Hi...I uh, saw you earlier. I am a traveler heading out to find shards of Soul Edge like you. I figured if I could find and stop you from gaining more power, I could destroy the shards you may have and continue my quest," she tells him, having not a doubt in her voice.

"I ain't after Soul Edge for power; I only wish to destroy it for revenge, but I don't expect someone like you to know my pain." He states, walking away, but she grabs his shoulder, and turns him around.

"Trust me. I would know pain. You better tell me, or you'll have to take a beating from me." She announces, fingers picking on her sword. The man only smiles, and shoved her hand off. He then sits onto a rock.

The stranger chuckles a bit, which angers her. "Well, since you think you're so high and mighty, I'll tell you; My name is Link. I don't really come from around here, but another world called Hyrule. I was enjoying a well-earned vacation from fighting many battles, when a wizard attacked my home world. After another brawl, I managed to defeat him, but learned that he was being controlled by another force, you know it as Soul Edge. Well, there was another attack on my world by a warlock named Ganondorf, and he was wielding a power similar to it. After that battle with my most hated enemy I lost, and he killed everyone in my world. I was sent here and saved because of my wife Zelda, to find the original blade and destroy it. That's why I'm here, to find a way to destroy his sword and take revenge on the people he's killed, including my wife."

The girl listening to it all begins to cry a little. "I'm so sorry. I never realized that you had it so bad." Link raises his eyebrow, staring at this girl who actually listened to him.

"You believe me? I mean, yeah it's the truth, but most people wouldn't believe in some guy with pointy ears and weird clothes." As she nods, he finds himself a bit curious of this girl.

"I can see in your eyes, that you feel pain from a loved being hurt or killed. Your eyes are just like mine. I'm looking for Soul Edge to destroy it. You see my sister is being possessed by it, and left our family bakery to destroy it and save her family," she says, sitting on a log.

"I see. It seems we both are fighting for something we each care about." Link rises up, heading off to look for the next town. She gets up and follows him.

"Don't you even think of leaving me behind! After that story you really gonna leave me here!" She states, angry at him.

"Oh fine! You can follow me, but just don't try to get in my way. What is your name?" he asks, before continuing.

"Oh, my name is Cassandra Alexandra," She tells him, and together they head towards the nearest town, starting their journey as a group for Soul Edge.

**End Chapter**


	2. Friendship Alpha: Link and Cassandra

******A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, or Link. Nintendo and Namco do.

_**Chapter 2: Friendship Alpha: Link and Cassandra  
**_

A day has past since the two travelers have walked from the last town. It's clear they are still within the forest, but they have no clue as to how long it would be. Link turns towards his apparent partner Cassandra in hopes that she would know something, with her being from this world and all. With the fact that getting lost annoyed the two of them a lot, especially Link who grew up in a forest, added to the information of the sun being out, our travelers are on the edge of irritation. And as if on cue Link speaks out to grasp her attention.

"Hey Cassie," he says politely.

The female warrior takes this quite offensive for some reason, and turned to face him. "Don't call me Cassie! We've only known each other for only one freaking day, and you wish to refer me in the familiar?~!"

"Whatever! I was wondering if you knew how to get out of this place!" He retorts, spitting venom at the girl who could only be rude to him when he was being nice. She grits her teeth and darts her eyes at the 'rude' Hylian.

"How the hell would I know! Why don't you find us a way out?" she yells back, which makes him even more angry. He could feel marks of anger form upon his face as he looked at her.

"Why the hell would I know this place like the back of my hand?"

"You know damn well why! You grew up in the goddamn greenery so you should be good at finding the way out of places like these! You're more useless than those gods my sisters worship!" The two of them close in on eachother to the point where their faces are so close together they could smell one another's breath. Of course they haven't noticed yet, but oh well.

"I only knew the layout of my forest because I grew up in them! Why did you even come follow me anyway?" Right now he's beginning to wonder why he was even polite enough to talk to the girl earlier. On the other hand Cassandra's thinking about why she followed him in the first place. But for some reason she can't find an answer. Sweat pours down her face as she tries to think of a comeback.

"See! You don't even know why! Go back home!" he yells, leaving off in his own directions.

She furiously stomps the ground in blind rage, and flips him the bird before running off on her own trail and screaming back, "Fine! I wouldn't want to be caught with a bastard like you in the first place! Kiss my ass you long-eared freak!"

One Hour Later...

A figure walks clear out of the forest towards the end, heading into a new town. The person is holding a compass in one hand, and has a sword and shield on his back along with a quiver with arrows. He finally reaches the exit, and spots the next town right in front of him. 'Can't believe I forgot about my compass. I wonder how she's doing?' Link thinks, actually feeling sorry for the girl. While she was rude and louder than lots of people he knew, and she was hardly considered like all the other girls he's met in his life, especially Zelda who is like the complete polar opposite of Cassandra, there is an air around her that reminds her of his previous wife.

He shakes his thoughts away and decides to continue his quest without her. But he doesn't make it far before he stops. 'Dammit. Why am I so worried about that girl? She's just going to cause me problems. Plus she hates me...'

Link glances back into the forest, and sighs. He can't just leave her; that's not what heroes do. 'Guess I should help her out.' These are his thoughts before he heads back into the forest to seek out his tomboyish teammate.

Cassandra...

"Stupid bastard made me lost even more now!" complains the Alexandra warrior. The swordswoman now finds herself stuck walking past torrents of creatures and such, scared that she went into an even scarier part of the woods. Shaking that thought aside Cassandra decides to turn around from where she was and walk back in Link's direction, hoping that his tracks haven't been smeared up.

But before she could move on she feels something wrong with her legs. The feeling of having stepped into something squishy overwhelms herself. She looks below herself, and notes she's stepping in a mushy quagmire.

She quickly reaches out to grab the ledge, and pull herself up, trying as best as she could to free herself. Finally she pulls out, but her shoes had another story. Said story goes with them to the bottom of the quagmire. Realizing that she couldn't stay there any longer, Casandra rises up to her feet and walks towards Link's previous location. As she does she ignores the pain of stepping on pointy debris along the way.

It has been another hour since she lost her shoes, and her feet were killing her. Cassandra would have whimpered over the loss and pain, but she forces herself not to. If she were caught by anyone crying she could never live it down. The Grecian finds Link's tracks alongside hers from before they split up, but couldn't muster enough endurance to step on another pointy object underneath herself anymore.

"I guess I'll stay here for now, seeing as how I can't move on," she says, sitting under a tree nearby. She looks up at the sky, seeing that it's getting dark again. Cassandra could do nothing for now, so she falls asleep, thinking nothing would happen.

Daylight...

Dawn breaks at 6 a.m., but you wouldn't know that since clocks aren't around the forest. The girl sleeping on the tree root begins to wake up. She looks around and feels a little added weight on her. She checks her feet and notes not only a green cloak around her, but also some wrappings around her feet. Looking around she sees someone sleeping on a nearby tree branch. Closer observation could tell that that is Link.

"Hey!" She said, then nudged him awake with her feet. Link opened his eyes, and looked up at Cassie.

"Oi, you're awake huh? I found you asleep here," he says to her, and she could figure out what happened after wards. She then rises up from the tree, but collapses when she tries to move. Link takes off his shoes, and hands them to her.

"No way. I don't need your charity." She scolds. After yesterday's quarrel, she feels she should just rely to herself, despite her almost dying just last night. Infact her meeting with Link is nothing short of a lucky break, if not a miracle.

"Then you don't think we should use this compass to head out?" He said, holding up a compass. Her face went dark and embarrassed from that. She turned towards him, and then thought of something.

"How did you know of where we were suppose to go? A compass is useless without a map." She said. Link smiled.

"Well, I just guessed and went north, and it took me to a road," he says, pointing east. "Anyway, let's get moving. The sooner we reach town the sooner we can eat."

He then picks up his gear before handing her hers. He then extends his hand out to her, in hopes she takes it so they can leave. Cassandra decides to go with it, and the two of them head for the next town.

Inside Town...

Link and Cassandra finally make it out of the forest, just standing outside the edge of it. The two of them then walk towards the nearest motel, and book a room. Inside the two of them enjoy their rest, especially since they had to sleep in the forest. Cassandra is taking a bath and Link is eating.

"I remember her saying something about a quagmire swallowing her shoes. Well, that's to be expected since we're in the east," he says to himself. Sighing, he decides to go to do something nice.

"Hey, Cassie! What's your shoe size?" he yells, causing the attention of the bathing beauty to look at the door.

"11! Why!" she yells back.

Link leaves the room, sword and cloak gone as well. When she doesn't receive an answer Cassandra peeks through the door to see that he's gone. Shrugging she goes to her bathing.

Link...

The elf was walking through the town, looking for a shoe store. On the way he senses a dark force nearby. 'What's that I'm sensing?'

He keeps his eyes peeled as he crosses over through the streets, wearing a cloak over his head to cover his ears. He doesn't notice a man in a white robe watching him from above a building.

**End Chapter**


	3. Being Nice Has a Price

_**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**_

Disclaimer: I do not own this franchise

Kenshin: This chapter is a redux.

_**Chapter 3: Being Nice Has a Price**_

* * *

Within the new town setting, Link travels throughout the thicket of humans trying his best to look for a shoe-store. So far he has been unsuccessful; the only things he can find are brothels, blacksmith's workshops, bars, and markets. 'This isn't going very well.'

It all seems futile, until he spots the place he was looking for right in front of his eyes; a shoe store for women. He dashes past the groups of people, and enters in. Once inside he finds himself surrounded by girls, each one trying on multiple shoes. There are shoes and boots on the walls of the building, and a counter near the front. The red-haired, big breasted shop-keep notices him and brightens almost too quickly.

"Welcome to Pay-less; where you get the shoes you desire, for less. But I'm afraid we don't have anything for your size, especially since you're probably filled out nicely," she said, scanning over his figure atleast twice. Snapping his fingers Link brings her back to Earth, as she shakes her head and blinks a bit before getting his message.

"Look, I'm just here for a friend of mine. I'm looking for size-11 sandals, hopefully matching a white and blue dress color," he says, noticing others there.

"Oh." She looks along the shelves for something in his specifics. Her eyes stopped at the last one farthest from them. "Good for you, because we have one pair left." She rises from her podium, and walked over to the spot, tip-toeing in order to reach the two shoes. After she gets a good grip on them she walks over to the counter and places them on top.

"There we go!" Link pulls out a bag with a jingling as it plops in his hand. The Hylian peeks in and sighs. 'Damn, out of gold thanks to the room. I'll use my currency then.' He opens it and takes out a medium size green jewel. It shines the minute it hits the sunlight, causing all eyes to gaze upon it. The red haired shop keep's mouth gapes open seeing them. "How much will they be?"

"Uh, are you sure? This, this is very valuable! It can feed even the poorest countries for a month!" she tells him, as other women have gathered around to look at it. People get easily distracted when they see something shiny come by.

"Yeah, I got more of these. It really don't cost that much where I'm from, and she really needs these shoes," he replies, knowing the price value of a Green Rupee from where he comes from. Being the nice guy he is, he just hands it to her, and walks out.

"Thank you very much! You're a very generous man, and your lover must be very lucky!" The receptionist yells to him as he exits, just so damn happy to have such a precious gem in her hands. Link, on the other hand, trips over his feet after hearing the words 'lover' come out of her mouth.

"Ouch! Maybe I was a bit too nice," Link speaks to himself, picking himself up off the floor. He walks towards the motel he left Cassandra in, knowing she probably couldn't go anywhere with bare feet.

Cassandra...

"If my feet weren't so messed up I would be out shopping for shoes." Cassandra is currently in the bedroom on top of the bed still dressed in her regular clothing. She removes her socks slowly, throwing them off to the floor so as to be forgotten til further noted. The female warrior looks at her lovely, perfect feet, or they were perfect before all those sticks and rocks cut her up.

"I wonder what Link is doing. He never mentioned doing anything." That's when she begins to think that he might be doing something nice for her. Thinking back to when he asked about her shoe size she begins to wonder if he was gonna buy her some new shoes. But then she shakes this thought aside. "He would never do something like that for me. He's just an idiot, an idiot with cute ears. And that weird accent that just adds to his...No!"

Cassandra shakes her head to stop herself from thinking such nonsense. Going back in her mind she thinks all the way to the fight they had. 'He won't do anything nice for me. He's probably already gone to the next town.' She figures, but then she looks to the side, noticing that his quiver of arrows and bow are still lying around.

"Maybe, I should give him a chance," she says to no one but herself, returning her attention to her feet.

Back With Link...

Link continues walking around town, trying to remember which motel he came from. And it's hard for him because they all look the same. 'No, wait! It was a blue building with a green door!' After he finally remembers he turns back to find where he came from. But just as he shifts himself, someone bumps into him, pushing Link onto the ground. The rude guy runs off.

"Jerk. What the?" That's when he notices that he's missing something; the shoes. That guy has stolen the shoes he bought for Cassandra. "That damn hit and run! I'll get him!"

Alleyway...

The thief comes running to a dead end, stuck in an alleyway with the bag he stole from some fool who should have been paying closer attention. He is wearing a white vest shirt with a gold line around the end and dark blue pants with white lines down the edges. His hair is done up in an Elvis style and he has a nunchaku around the back of his waist.

"Finally, gold or food!" he says before he opens the bag. But instead of getting what he desired, he finds a pair of female shoes. "What the hell? I thought I robbed a rich dude. Looks like he's just a transvestite!" laughs the thief, trying to get over his loss of not stealing food.

"I'd like for you to repeat that!" A voice speaks. The man turns around behind him, and sees the guy he robbed before. Now he looks kinda pissed, especially since he's cracking his knuckles. "Nice for you to not try and lose me, now I can take back those shoes you stole."

"You can have 'em back, just give me you gold!" He yells, brandishing his nunchaku. He begins to swing them around vigorously, as if he was smacking each part of his body with it. It looks cool, but seems useless. Link sighs with boredom and anxiety, pulling out his shield and holding it up to his face.

"Now, get ready to pay FOR MY MEAL!" He yells, rushing forward to Link at high speed. He jumps in the air, prepared to bust his skull open.

But instead of that happening Link's shield meets his face, bashing him backwards. The thief falls flat to the ground, revealing a bloody nose and dilated pupils from the blow. Link makes a deep sigh. "What kind of stupid weapon was that? Swinging around two clubs attached to a chain..."

Link looks over the man before checking his bag. He picks it up and gets ready to leave. But for some reason he stops to look at him. 'I'm gonna regret this later...'

Motel 13 Minutes Later...

"I wonder where he's going. He better not be wasting time with some tramp! I got a sister to save!" Cassandra is fuming right at this moment. Wherever Link is, he's surely taking his time. She was just about to curse in boredom when the sound of a door unlocking can be heard. Cassandra looks to her left and spots Link. She looks him over and noticed two things: he has an extra bag with him, and a guy over his shoulders.

"Oh my god, you're gay!" she screams, holding her mouth in shock and pointing at him.

A sweat mark falls down his face. "Actually, this guy stole a gift I just bought and I had to take it back from him."

"And why is he here?" She asks, not entirely getting the situation.

"He needs food or he'll die." He answers bluntly. She sighs and pulls him in.

Minutes later the man that was just passed out is eating a storm of food that Link so kindly lends him. Cassandra looks in awe at his monster appetite while Link's holding his face. "So, mind telling us your name, or you just wanna make a pig outta yourself?"

The man finished eating with a loud burp. "The name's Maxi. I'm a martial artist fighter who works in piracy," he explains, picking an earwig out of his ear.

"Ooh a pirate. What happened to that?" Cassandra asked, wanting to know more of their new 'friend'.

"Well babe, I met up with a guy who seems to have drawn a shit-load of trouble my way, in the form of a golem with an axe. Can't remember his name though. Infact, I can't remember anything else about him, not after that old man found me." As Maxi talked, Cassandra quickly grows pissed when he called her babe.

"Babe?" she says with gritted teeth and an evil face. Link could feel sweat falling down the back of his head, and decides to quell her anger before it was too late. Acting fast he stands in the way of her and Maxi, with a nervous smile on his face.

"Alright! I think we got everything we need from you!" he says quickly, confusing Maxi a bit. He then placed his hands onto Cassandra. "Let's go someplace else, to think over what to do with you." He pushed Cassy into the next room, the living room, away from bringing Maxi's death. Once there she slammed her leg in between his legs.

"AAAAAAAGHH!" He screamed, receiving the one thing that makes them regret having them in the first place, a kick in the crotch. He crumbles onto the floor like a tower collapsing from an explosion at the base of it.

"What the hell did you stop me for?~! What he called me was unforgivable!" She yells at him, about ready to kick him there again.

Maxi, listening from the other room, deduces what he heard, and begins to sweat bullets. 'I'd better think of an apology.'

Link finally recovers enough to raise his head up. "That..was...dirty...I don't...think I'll be...having little Links..." he cries, still trying to breath from his pain. "And here I got you something. Maybe I should return it..."

Those words perk up her ears. "You got me something?" asks Cassandra, now wishing she hadn't kicked him there. Link finally gets up to his feet.

"I, bought you a new pair of shoes, since you lost yours back in the forest." says the elf swordsman, going towards the bag he left by the door in a limping fashion. He picks up the bag and hands it over to her. "I think you'll like it."

Cassandra pulls out the pair of shoes and stares at them. Almost instantly her eyes light up. "These, are just, like my old ones! They're so beautiful!" She rubs the shoes to her face in a similar manner to a girl holding a soft and fluffy cat.

"So, I guess you li-Oof!" He's about to continue, but she grabs onto him and they fall on the floor. She's hugging him in almost the same way she did the shoes. Cassandra looks up at his face and was about to say something, but the current situation is a bit too embarrassing for her to speak.

"I-I, uh...you didn't have to do that," Cassandra says, finally regaining her tough girl exterior. She still couldn't hold back her face blushing blood red. Rising up from him she stands tall, looking away so he wouldn't see her redness. But unknown to her he's just as red as she was, the sudden contact a bit unexpected.

"It was no problem, just doing something friendly." He states, rising back onto his feet. He smiles at her, and for some reason she just felt like smiling back. "But anyway, I was thinking we take Maxi along with us. We could use a nakama like him on our side."

"I agree...Nakama? What's that?" She asked, not familiar with his word.

"Well, it's a Japanese word I heard while traveling through the eastern sea. It was pretty much the only word I know from their language. It means special friends, comrades, you know.." Link says before heading inside the kitchen to tell Maxi the good news. Cassandra just looks at him with a certain weird look, like she was confused or something.

'Does he, think of me as friend? A close friend?' Her thoughts have finally come to realize how wrong she was about the elf. 'I guess, he's not so bad. Those ears still look so cute though.' And with these final thoughts she walks towards the kitchen to see Maxi and Link.

2 Weeks Later...

"Maxi, do you really think someone has a piece of Soul Edge here? It isn't really a place you would think of." Link says as they enter the town. Over the last two weeks he, Cassandra, and Maxi have been traveling east to claim a rumor about a powerful red glowing stone that was disturbing the city. It's a rainy day, and all three are wearing straw hats.

"O ye of little faith; Have I ever steered you guys wrong before?" Maxi retorts confidently, moving faster through the rain. Both Link and Cassy face-falt, sweat falling free from their faces.

"Well there was that one time-"

"Nobody likes a smart ass, stupid. Let's just go with it because we ain't got no other leads to follow!" says the pirate rudely, storming off to the main building.

"If I'm the dumb one, then who got these straw hats for us?" Link asks abruptly, pointing to the hats above their heads.

"He's right, Maxi. You must really be retarded," she says with a grin, which didn't at all hide her rudeness. Maxi looked at them in an enraged look.

"Shut up, woman! Why should I listen to you?" he yells back, causing other people to look at them. Cassandra and Maxi continue arguing, throwing words that would make a sailor blush. Link is completely distracted trying to kill the violence that he was totally unaware of someone watching them under an asura mask.

**End Chapter**


	4. Big Trouble With Pirates

**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**

Kenshin: This chapter is a redux.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur II or Zelda.

* * *

Elsewhere in China, two cloaked figures are currently heading past the Great Wall. Each had a green cloak with straw hats on for the rain. "Did you tell him about the shard right?" asks the taller one to the smaller. That one nods.

"Just as you said master; he should find the shard within this very city. But like you planned we have to be elsewhere," he says. The two of them soon come to a stop. The taller one pulls his right hand out from the cloak, revealing a dark armored arm with a black and brown glove. On the back of said hand are three triangles, piled onto one another in the shape of a bigger triangle. The only triangle glowing is the bottom left one.

As his arm extends dark smoke seep out from his hand, forming into a large hole. The two figures walk inside, disappearing with the portal without a trace.

**_Chapter 4: Big Trouble With Pirates_**

"Maxi! Where is this shard gonna be?" Link asks his male comrade. The two were in cloaks and straw hats and running throughout the town while it poured on top of them. Cassandra glances up at Maxi, who only smiled at them.

"I have a reliable source who travels around here. I'm sure you would like to meet him." He states as they run into a brothel.

"Not really." Entering in they find it no different from any other pub. It's filled with rough-housing drunks and shallow hookers. A single look and Cassandra sighs, disappointed that they had to come here.

"You guys wait here and get a drink. I'll seek out directions." Maxi then heads towards the counter and the barkeep.

"Oi, Maxi! There you are! So what brings you here?" asks the one eyed barkeep under the noise of the many other bums around. Maxi points to Link and Cassandra.

"I'm helping those two find something. Remember that red stone?" As Maxi finishs the barkeep's eyes go wide open. Maxi nods and the two of them head into the back room. Back with Cassandra she sits at a table, keeping her legs together to avoid the throw-up liquor on the floor.

"My god, this place is a hell-hole." She looks in front of her, and notices drunken guys, some Chinese and others obviously foreign, ogling and whistling at her. She makes a horrid scowl. "And the business is disgusting. Link, you-"

As she turns around she spots two attractive women wearing very loose clothing leaning next to Link. One of them says, "Hello there. Would you like to buy me a drink?"

He's resting his head at the moment, completely ignorant to the attention he was getting. Of course Cassandra isn't gonna stay oblivious.

"Hey, back away from him!" she yells at the women, inadvertently waking up Link in the process. They frown, muttering how she might be his woman, and walk away. They each scowl some very crude and evil looks at the blond warrior.

"What happened? Why were you yelling?" Link asks, looking towards Cassandra. Instead of an answer, she turns away from him and secretly blushes when she realizes what she did. "Huh?"

"It's nothing. Just leave it be." Cassandra tells him, still hiding her redness. 'Why did I say that?' Her thoughts continue to go over what was going on. Did she just hate them for pestering Link, or did she just panic that attractive women were near Link?

As she ponders over her supposed 'feelings', Maxi comes out with a slip of paper and the bartender beside him.

"Hey guys, I found directions to what may seem to be where it could be." Maxi says as he heads towards the two sword-bearers. Link smiled as he got to his feet and grabbed his sword, walking towards Maxi.

"Alright, where do we go?" Link asks, looking at the map of the city he had seen on the wall. Maxi points at a picture of a large Chinese temple.

"I heard there was some powerful shogun that was reinstated in this house a couple of days ago, and people say he has the look of a demon in battle. If anyone were to know something about Soul Edge, it would be best to ask him abo-" Maxi pauses to look across to see Cassandra still deep in thought and blushing. Link blinks twice, before he notices the girl spaced out.

"Cassie!" Link snaps the girl out of her stupor. The blond girl looks up to see Maxi and Link, who stare at her strangely. "You okay?"

"I'm okay. Just had a weird thought come across my mind." Link blinks obnoxiously before looking at Maxi. All the pirate can do is shake his head for some reason.

"What was that about?" Link turns towards Cassandra, who just left out the door. Link sighed then chased after her. This leaves the pirate to facepalm himself.

"Man, that guy is as dull as a turtle's shell, a total blank slate." He states, following behind the two blonde's for the next destination.

Big Mansion...

"Whoa!" Link yells, looking up at the huge mansion from below. It truly is true to its Chinese origins, and it looks even better now that the rain from before has stopped. Cassandra stares in awe as well; obviously she's never been to this sort of country before. "So you think someone up there knows about Soul Edge?"

"Indubitably. Let's find an entrance first." That's when Maxi feels something inside of him pulse. 'This place is giving me a bad feeling. It's like something evil is waiting deep inside of this place just ready to slaughter us. We'll just have to tread carefully-'

"We just get inside right?" Link asks. Maxi comes up from his thoughts to gaze at Link, but couldn't find where he was. He turns to Cassandra, who points to the building. Raising his head Maxi spots Link climbing up the side of the building.

"What the hell! I said find an entrance first!" The pirate yells up at Link, who continues trekking up the side of the building. He is using a weird looking object that was hooked onto the building, and keeping the item at use as a rope to pull him up. That's when Maxi gains a weird thought in his mind; where did he get that weird grappling hook?

"Why is that idiot climbing up the side of this tall building and not using the front door like a normal person?" Maxi asks, looking at their only female nakama.

"What can I say? The guy's an idiot. Let's just go in and bring him to safety when he gets caught." The two of them rush for the door. Maxi approaches the door first, noting it isn't a slide door like the others in town. The pirate makes several attempts to knock the door down, by pushing it, kicking it and headbutting it.

"WHAT'S WITH THIS DOOR?-!" he cries as he tries harder to break it down.

"Damn it...I'll do it." Cassandra unsheathes her sword from her back and raises it skyward. She then slashes vertically, cutting the wooden door in half. She strikes sideways and finishes the door off, allowing them to go in.

"...So you do know how to use it..." The pirate states, not understanding how he couldn't do a thing. She turns around and smiles, almost evilly.

"Shut up. So once we head inside we find Link, grab the shard, and head out." Cassandra explains, sprinting forward past the doorway. She grabs hold of Maxi and drags him along the way.

"Alright, we should try an-" Cassandra couldn't finish her words, for right when she was about to speak the floor opens up under them. They soon find themselves descending into the coldness of the trap hole.

"SHIIIIIIT!"

Link...

"There we go." Link finally climbs inside the building through the window. He now stands inside what looks like a bedroom. The wallpaper is burgundy as was the furniture, which consists of a wide dresser with a mirror and a tall dresser with a set of three katana on it. There's also a large bed, one that could be found in places like Rome or Spain.

"Man, Zelda's room looks so much better compared to this," Link says, looking around for anything he could find that resembled Soul Edge. His senses go off when he begins trying to feel out the evil energy, and sees a tiny cloth wrapped up on the mirror dresser. As he nears it he could see it glow red. "I see. That's where it is."

Link walks over to the dresser, and picks up the cloth. He then unwraps it, to reveal a fragment of Soul Edge like he figured. It releases a flash of red light, which quickly recedes inside of him the moment a golden light from his left arm flares. Pocketing the shard inside a box with other shards, he heads for the door. But just as he does he hears footsteps nearing closer. It's when the doorknob turns that he realizes someone is coming in. He would have to come up in an idea to hide.

As the door opens, in steps two people. The first seems to be sporting purple clothing, holding a weird looking flag on his back and has one of those Asura masks on his face. On the left of his waist is a daitou katana. The other person stands as a much larger figure. He has purple skin, evident as his face is indeed violet, white hair which gave a hint to him being very old or such, and heavy armored legs. The rest of his body is riddled with purple, free and loose clothes with a captain's hat perched atop his head. Two swords are attached to his back.

As they enter they remain completely unaware of Link's presence, especially since he's hanging above them on the ceiling courtesy of the open parts above that he could hold onto. But right now he's too busy looking at the taller man before him. There's just something about him that makes him shiver and sweat that tells him this man is evil and not a normal human, or even mortal.

"He wants you to have it now?" The masked man asks, walking over to the bed to sit down. "You know, it took me a long time to steal this from that temple, and now I have to give it up? What's Ganondorf planning!"

Link tenses up when he hears the name Ganondorf. To him that name is a vicious poison that can kill even the strongest things. He grits his teeth violently, trying the best he could not to make a sound. He can't help but grow angry the moment he hears anything including hearing Ganondorf and what he's been doing to him all these years has made him pissed.

But now comes the question of how the hell did this bastard know about him? He begins to wonder if these two may be working for him. Just thinking about him not only ignites bad memories, but sweat. Infact some slicks down his face. 'Shit. If I move my arm I might fall.'

"It's only right to give such a powerful item to someone who deserves it." The much taller one states, staring his...well it's hard to tell; He's got no pupils or veins in his eyes. "Besides, my weapons deserve it more than yours does."

"Kuso (Dammit, or shit). Fine, but I better get a huge profit after this, you dreadful kaizoku." He spoke, then went to the mirror dresser for something, but found that nothing was there. "Nani? It's not there!" He starts to search the whole of the dresser, and couldn't find a hint of the shard he was seeking. "Someone must have stolen it!"

The pirate shakes his head. "No, it's close by. I can feel it," He says before walking towards the door. "You probably misplaced it. After all it would be pathetic for a world renowned thief to be outfoxed by another thief."

"That's Yoshimitsu-san to you!" The mask man said, as the two of them headed out the door swiftly. But right before they are gonna leave, a drop of sweat finally leaks off of Link's face. It hits the floor at a slow pace and makes a silent dripping sound. Unfortunately it wasn't so silent, as the pirate stops walking and slowly shifts his head to the left. The white eyed pirate stares back into the room.

"Wait a minute." He mumbles, walking back inside. He glances down at the drop of sweat, having his suspicions being confirmed. He then shoots his head up to find nobody up there, which was the opposite of what he thought. But then his eyes glue to the window. 'This smell; I hadn't notice it before, but it's somehow the same as Ganondorf.' He makes quiet steps to the window, sprinting his head out the window to look around for anything that could explain this scent.

Luckily for Link he's hanging right under the ledge of the window seal. There he remains safe from being seen by the person above. The pirate makes a grin before pulling his head back in.

"I see. Guess he has some explaining to do," speaks the undead pirate as he heads out the door to where Yoshimitsu awaits.

"Oi, what the hell are you waiting for?" yells the masked swordsman, turning back around towards the undead pirate.

Reaching the next floor the two villains spot before them two underlings of Yoshimitsu, both wearing outfits similar to the thief himself. Both of them are holding two people in front of them, Maxi and Cassandra. "We found these two intruders within our compounds."

"Oh, so you have. And one of them looks pretty familiar." The pirate walks towards Cassandra, who shifts her head upwards to face his white eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" she curses, looking up at the tall, purple man. He grins as his left index finger lifts her head up more, staring into her beautiful emerald eyes. Cassandra could feel her body twitch being so close up to him. "Wh-what is it?"

"It's no doubt; your eyes are the same as hers. There's no doubt you're related to that Greek woman years ago." After hearing his words the Grecian's eyes shot open wide, almost paling at what she suspects this person to be.

"Wh-who are you? And how do you know my sister?" asks fearfully of the Greek warrior. The pirate only gives out a bellowing laugh. Maxi almost grinds his teeth to mush.

"I see; Now I remember your ugly face." His speech gets the pirate's attention, who ceases laughing and looks down at the other pirate. "I vaguely recall a pirate of your looks sailing the Spanish main a few years ago. He was dubbed the Immortal Pirate, or Dreaded Pirate; Cervantes de Leon."

After hearing these words Cassandra pales greatly, almost as if she was born a ghost. "Wait a minute; I know that name. It's the one my sister always spoke about when she had a nightmare...Are you him?" She looks frightfully at the evil pirate, who bellows again in laughter.

"That brings back memories! I remember her face so clearly once I got a look at you. That bitch tried her best to kill me, but failed, and would have fallen to my blade if she didn't have help," he says, remembering the time he met Cassie's sister. Yoshimitsu remains quiet the entire time, watching Cassandra breathe hard from just listening to him.

"There was another broad that fought alongside her at the end, a ninja bearing a second sword contaminated by Soul Edge. I can't remember her name, but I can remember the face of that bony lass clearly. And the last fool who helped them was eventually possessed by the sword itself. Infact, after I died I became revived, immortalized completely from that same man trying to revive me while as someone else." He finishs his words with a growl, thinking over the face of the man, the ninja and Cassy's sister. He looks down at the girl before him. "And you, will have to suffice for my revenge."

"Wha-" Cassandra couldn't finish as Cervantes grips her neck tight, almost crushing her neck bone and esophagus. He pulls her out of the grip of the thieves.

"Do any of them have the shard?" Yoshimitsu asks finally, and his thieves reply with a no. "Damn; there might be others here. Prepare to search them out after these two die."

The thieves look at eachother before turning to their leader. 'This is so weird. He was never like this before.'

"Don't worry; this won't last very long." He begins to crush her neck even harder, as blood began to shoot out her mouth. She grabs hold of his arm tight, hoping to get her free and shake him off. She even tries to kick his chest and chin, but her efforts are futile as they only serve to make him tighten his grip.

"Heh. Now die!"

He pauses for a moment when he feels something has pierced his body. Looking down at his chest he sees an arrowhead sticking out. He drops Cassandra quickly and grips the arrow sticking out of him. The Greek warrior scurries off to the nearest wall, grabbing the hilt of her sword on her back as she begins to stand up until she glances down the hall.

"Where the hell did this come from!" Cervantes curses, pulling the item out from his chest area. He notices a bomb stick attached, which blows up right before his face. The blast forms a smoke cloud large enough to cover his entire body.

Yoshimitsu is blown back by the explosive, skidding across the ground back down the hallway a bit. "Nani! Where did tha-" He looks behind him and spots someone there. "Who the hell are you?"

Maxi looks up, before noticing the masked guys were distracted. He slightly leaps into the air a little then back kicks his legs into their groins, forcing them down onto their knees. Now free from their control he looks forward and sees who set off that arrow.

Standing down the hall in a green tunic was Link. Holding his Hero's Bow, Link has a serious look on his face. "Are you guys okay?"

"Where the hell were you! You know we got caught in a lame ass trap because of you?" Maxi shouts, looking at the elf from afar.

"Shut up! Atleast I came!" he yells back before tensing up when he peers into the dust cloud. "Besides, it seems my explosive arrows didn't work."

"What?" Maxi turns to where Cervantes is, seeing that he's right. As the smoke fades away Cervantes stands tall in the center, with his face peeled apart and his hand blown off. Link clutches his mouth to prevent himself from throwing up, while Cassandra regains her breathing and looks at Link.

"So he is immortal..." Link says, putting away his bow and arrows and drawing the Master Sword. "I won't forgive you for what you did to Cassandra."

"He...saved me." Cassandra whispers to herself, still focused on that fact for some strange reason.

As he finishes Cervantes' body begins to repair itself, including his arm. First the bones sprouts out, blood and nerves entangle it, and then skin reforms over that. Cervantes flexes his hand before chuckling. "Groundless; that's what your words are to me. I'll feast on your soul right-"

"Caw!" Yoshimitsu and Cervantes look to the side and spot a raven flying towards them. It lands on Cervantes' shoulder, and whispers something in his ears.

"What? Now! Fine." He then turns to Link. "It seems you've all gotten a lucky reprieve. I have to go right now. Yoshimitsu, you take care of them." He then disappears in a burst of darkness with the crow, leaving Link, Maxi and Cassandra to stare in disbelief.

"What was that?" Link asks before turning to the masked man. He gives off a hysterical face. "AHH! LOST CHILD!"

This somehow pisses him off. "Kisama! Ore no sekai no ichi dorobo, Yoshimitsu-sama! (You fool! I'm the world's number one thief, Master Yoshimitsu!)" Yoshimitsu's statement confuses Cassandra and Link, the latter of whom only knows a few Japanese words. Maxi on the other hand could speak fluent Japanese.

"What did he say?" Link asks, looking back at the others. Cassandra shrugs not knowing what he said, while Maxi sighs. Yoshimitsu grows even more enraged.

"I'll kill you all!" Yoshimitsu draws his prized katana, Yoshimitsu. "Prepare to die by my Manji Ninjutsu!" He then goes into a kabuki dance, ending with a finishing pose most well known to all sorts of sennin. (It's the day he does when he hops around on one foot and stomps into the ground, then twists his head around at the end of a fight.)

"Oh and if you were wondering, he said he was the world's greatest thief Yoshimitsu," Maxi tells them. He and Link prepare for battle as Cassandra slowly snaps out of her previous daze.

**_End Chapter..._**

Kenshin: Just to let everyone know, we know Yoshimitsu is an honorable thief. We did our research.


	5. Yoshimitsu and the Hellspawn

**_A Love Forged By Blades And Souls_**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Namco, Columbo, or Nintendo.

Kenshin: Columbo? I still don't know what that's about. Anyway, this chapter is also a redux.

* * *

Within town the townsfolk scream as a dark figure walks through the streets. A citizen out of fear attacks him with a spear, who glares at him with green glowing eyes. The man passes out from fear, and the man in black continues walking. More citizens prepare their weapons in case he tries to attack them, who simply ignores them as he approaches the tall building where Link and the others are.

"Malebolgia, just you wait." He continues walking towards the building, his crimson cape flowing in the still air.

_**Chapter 5: Yoshimitsu and the Hellspawn  
**_

"Ahahaha! You fools cannot hurt me!" The masked man bellows, standing upside down on the wall. Link, Maxi and Cassandra look up at the masked swordsman, wondering how he's doing that.

"How's he doing that?" Link asks, putting his shield and sword away. He then pulled out his bow and a normal arrow. "He's probably using suction cups."

"Suction cups? No. It's ninjutsu!" Yoshimitsu tells him. Link draws his arrow and lets it fly, soaring towards the man's skull. He disappears almost in a flash, evading the arrow like it was in slow motion.

"Damn! Where did he go!" Cassandra yells angrily. The three of them search the entire hallway looking for him. She even faces away from the group as they form a triangle. 'It must have been some sort of illusion, but at this close range-' Her breathing soon starts to grow shallow, as she felt warm moisture around the side of her neck; it's almost like breathing. The Greek's eyes widen in shock, thinking he somehow got behind her.

"Namu namu namu namu namu!" A voice whispers behind her left ear. Angry, Cassandra quickly turns around to give a swift kick to his crotch.

"Where the hell is-" Link begins as he turns around to face Cassandra. But when he does her foot comes crashing up his two best friends. He shouts, "AH!"

Link falls to the ground, dropping his weapons and clutching his injured area in pain. Thankfully they didn't break, but who wouldn't be hurt form that? Cassandra sees what her hasty actions have wrought, the shocking expression evident on her face as she thought that masked freak was behind her. Maxi quickly spins around to see what happened, but cringes in pain seeing what happened.

"Oh MY God! Link, I'm so sorry!" She pleads, dropping to her knees and placing her hands on his shoulders. He, of course, has passed out from the pain.

"Ehahahaha! I've never met bigger fools than you three!" That same creepy voice can be head just to their left. The two warriors spot Yoshimitsu dancing at Link's predicament. Cassandra's eyes almost literally light on fire, growing enraged all the more she stares at the masked freak.

"YOU! How dare you make me do that to Link!" She grabs her shield and throws it at him; it spins in the air like a frisbee. Yoshimitsu simply leans his body back, dodging the throw matrix style. Both of his enemies look at him in even more surprise.

"Like I said, you fools can never hurt me! I'm invincible in my own territory!" He laughs at them as he straightens himself. But as he does, they all hear a loud crack. Yoshimitsu also didn't stand upright either when it sounded. "Uh oh." He realizes his back wouldn't take the sudden adjustments of his spine back then so easily, and now his back hurts. 'Kuso!'

"Chance!" Maxi turns to Cassandra with smiles, knowing full well Yoshi is wide open. They come running up to Yoshimitsu and jump into the air, landing double dropkicks on his face that sends him flying through the wall. Both fighters rise up from their strike and walk back to Link.

"Link, are you okay?" Cassandra asks, shaking his body a bit to get an answer. He finally comes to and rises up. She had a look of relief on her face.

"Huh? What happened? OH YEAH!" He remembers what happened to him, and flashes evil eyes at Cassandra. "You kicked me there again!"

"I'm sorry!" She quickly apologizes, clapping her hands together like if she was praying. Maxi has sweat coming down his face just watching them go. It's like seeing a married couple.

"Fools! You have incurred my wrath!" Yoshimitsu comes walking out the wall, a few cracks in his mask present. It's apparent that he also manages to fix his back problem. He leaps into the air approaching his targets, his body facing left as he prepares a slash draw. "Thine lives, I shall take!"

"This guy is real durable," Link says, accepting his challenge as he held his sword's hilt, which was sheathed on his back. With his left hand tightened he charges at Yoshimitsu. "Time to test out that new technique I've been practicing."

Yoshimitsu draws his sword at amazing speed, almost like a flash of light. Link manages to block it when he draws his own with a complete 360 spin, swinging his sword upwards to intercept it. Both parties try pushing the other back, but find it to be completely useless. It seems they're evenly matched.

"You have some skill." Link smiles at the compliment given to him, but keeps his stern face. "But you'll need more than that to defeat me!"

"What are you flapping your gums about? I don't need skill to make you pay for what your friend did to Cassandra." Link announced, causing Yoshi to growl under his mask. Cassandra blushes a bit from his words. "Besides, this ain't a one-on-one battle!"

"Rising Heavens!" A voice shouts, as Cassandra appears in between the two of them. Link backs away just as she slashes her blade upwards at Yoshimitsu's face. The strike goes straight up his mask, creating more cracks on his wooden appeal. It also sends him flying backwards, crashing through the same wall. "Let's finish this idiot off!"

Link, Maxi and Cassie all jump out the building, taking note that they were on the first floor, and land right in front of where Yoshi was suppose to have fallen. "Ah, he vanished! Form the circle!"

The three of them push their backs to one another, each facing three sides to cover their blind spots. "Where is he?" Link asks as they look from side to side for him.

"Baka me. Do you really think I would let you strike me again? Now think; that formation of yours may be great to protect yourselves, but there is one direction your vision has no way of seeing." As he speaks, Link's eyes widen in realization of what he means.

"He's above us!" he shouts, and they all look up to see their opponent high in the skies. His flag is spinning rapidly above him, propelling his body up like some sort of helicopter. (Even though they don't have those back then.)

"What the hell?" Link and Cassandra speak in unison as he comes soaring down towards them. As he falls Yoshimitsu's arms and legs gran hold of the hilt of his katana, almost in a monkey-like fashion. The sword itself points straight downward.

"Shi ne(Die)!" The three protagonists run away, each taking cover from the lethal strike as the sword impales the ground. The moment it does the ground breaks away, creating a crater that divides the ground up into multiple fractures that even forces rock formations to rise. This attack also knocks them off balance. The moment the ground stops moving Maxi looks to the center to see Yoshimitsu has taken to the skies again.

"I don't believe this; it shouldn't be this hard for one guy." Maxi spots him falling down at hawk speed towards him. Maxi rises his weapon up to block the strike. Once his sword makes contact with the chains connecting his nunchaku the ninja stops falling any further. The ground breaks apart underneath them.

"Nice try. But you won't be able to hold me forever!" Yoshi chuckles in between sentences, while Maxi tried as hard as he could to lift him up. The blade of the katana slowly slides through the chains, aiming down to go through his skull. "No one can touch me in my Po Go stance! No one!"

"Maxi! Get away from him!" A voice yells. The two look off to spot Link with a bow and arrow drawn. "This one will hurt you!" Link releases the arrow, allowing it to soar towards the thief. Maxi on the otherhand is trapped; the minute he moves his arms the katana will penetrate his flesh like a rifle bullet through paper. Besides, this way he could make sure he gets hit.

But it didn't hit him. Just as it was about to strike him the swordsman kicks off of Maxi and dodges the arrow. It stabs into a tree, which blows up seconds later. 'Damn! I thought I had him.' Link curses in his mind, but a part of him is glad that he didn't get Maxi on the other hand.

"I won't let either of you leave alive," Yoshimitsu speaks, still in the air in his pogo stance. He lifts up into the air even higher, going beyond their sight. Link tries his hardest to spot the bastard, but to no avail. 'Damn, he's beyond sight. Even if I could see him my arrows wouldn't reach that high. The wind would blow them off target.' Withdrawing his bow Link draws his shield and sword, awaiting his next strike.

Soon something was seeable; a tiny figure descends at a rapid pace towards the ready Hylian. 'Here he comes!' Link's shield would be unable to stand against such a strike, for at the speed he's falling he would puncture if not shatter the steel shield. He would have to move to the side and strike at the last second. But as he does he doesn't pay attention to his foothold, and slips.

"What the?" He looks to his foot and sees that he tripped over a rock. 'Oh for Din's sake!' He complains, wondering how now of all times could he trip over something. That's when Yoshimitsu comes crashing down at him, an impact so strong it creates dusts clouds.

"Link!" yells Maxi, seeing his friend face an embarrassing death. Elsewhere a boulder gets pushed raggedly to the side and Cassandra rises up from underneath.

"Damn it! What the hell was that move?" She curses, her clothes and body dirtied and cut up from the attack earlier. She looks to the side in time to see smoke, and around the top a pillar of smoke rises up and Yoshimitsu flies into the sky once again. As she did the smoke fades away and Link can be seen at the center of it all. Cassandra's eyes haze over in horror, one equivalent to when she listened to Cervantes.

"LINK!" she yells, rushing forward to him. As she comes closer she sees his body laying partly under some rubble, the top of him visible. Blood leaks from a wound placed next to his right kidney, and his eyes have rolled over. She slowly drifts her hand over to him, hoping to see and make sure he was alive. As she does his body shakes.

"This is the worse attack I've been subjected to! Even that time that ghost thing with teeth tried to eat me..." he says through spits, each one consisting of blood. Link slowly stands to his feet, noticing Cassandra leaning before him and on the verge of crying. "What happened? Did he strike you?"

"S-stupid. You're why I'm crying," says the Greek warrior softly, causing a confused expression to appear on his face. Link is just about to ask what she meant, when he sees Yoshimitsu standing on top of the building.

"Kisama, how are you still alive?" asks the masked swordsman, looking down at Link in shock.

"Don't underestimate me! There's nothing you can do to me that I can't live through!" shouts the valorous Hylian. As Yoshimitsu drops down, Cassandra draws her sword and charges at him. "Cassandra!"

"Don't stop me, Link! I want to kick this guy's ass more than you do!" she roars before bringing up her knee to Yoshimitsu's face. He flips backwards, dodging her blow with precision. She lunges at him again, her shield pointed forward to jab into his face. Yoshimitsu makes a spin to kick it out of the way, and then throws his right arm forward in her face. The punch causes Cassandra to go daze for a few moments. "What's this? I feel so weak..." She falls to her knees from her lack of energy.

"Ha! So you notice! This is a specially made hand with a piece of Soul Edge embedded inside it. With it I can automatically-"

"Hiya!" Maxi swings his nunchaku at Yoshimitsu, blocking using his same arm. Link raises his sword and walks forward, as Maxi and Yoshimitsu continue their fight.

Yoshi slashes his sword straight downward, which Maxi blocks using his nunchaku. His foe then brings a side kick to his ribs. The strike is somehow strong enough to not only cause blood to squirt out of Maxi's mouth, but also send him flying back into more debris.

"This is easier than I expected! Omae-tachi no aho ga(You're all idiots!)" he taunts, making another one of his dances. "You would have all suffered even greater if Cervantes had-"

"Can all you do is talk?" Link yells, bringing himself to stand on both his legs. He turns back to Cassandra and says, "Sorry, but I'll need to borrow your sword." She graciously hands him her weapon, before he puts away his shield.

"Just kick his ass." She requests, a smile present on her face. He grabs the sword with his right hand, and crosses both swords, bringing them close to his chest.

'Never done the spin attack with two swords. This should be interesting.' Link prepares himself as he walks forward.

"Maybe I should show you what it means to truly suffer!" The Manji ninja hops up and down on his right foot and stomps his other on the ground. He holds his sword facing forward, with his free hand pointing at Link in the shape of a zero. It's kind of like he's gonna play at a pool table. "Prepare for my hissatsu waza." He bursts forward at an inhuman speed.

"Shut up and get over here." Link rushes forward with both blades in position, and makes a spin before coming to him. Yoshimitsu thrusts his sword through his finger hole.

"Double Cyclone Attack!" Link appears quickly behind the masked swordsman after his 360 spin. The attack releases a hurricane of energy that blasts Yoshimitsu upwards into the air. Slash wounds appear all over his body. Not that they could see it, but he also spits blood from his mouth.

Soon the hurricane dispels, and Yoshimitsu collides with the ground, crashing with incredible force. Link starts to breath heavily once his attack ends over, as if a heavy strain suddenly appears on his body. His eyes looks up as the rain begins to fall again, this time even heavier than earlier. "I guess I still need practice with that move. It cost too much energy to connect magic into two swords." He complains, falling to his knees.

"Whoa. Did he always know how to do that?" Maxi asks Cassandra, walking slowly to his friends. She herself is also surprised Link could do that.

"News to me. Link, are you okay?" She asks, getting down on one knee and helping him up to his feet. He uses his Master Sword as a support beam to keep him standing and hands her the Omega Sword.

"I'll survive. Let's just get the pieces of Soul Edge he has and-" He freezes up. Why? Yoshimitsu can be seen standing up, barely though. "You're sure persistent."

"Overconfidence is the greatest enemy... How dare you cause me such pain?" he shouts weakly, pain evident within his voice. "I am Yoshimitsu! Behold my magnificence!"

"I believe I've seen enough." The group pauses in surprise having heard a new voice enter. Link blinks before looking up at the building, his eyes widening the moment he spots the new arrival. Cassandra, Maxi and Yoshimitsu all see the newcomer as well; it's a man wearing what appears to be a black costume containing white highlights on his face and chest underneath a golden skull attached to his waist. He has crimson gauntlets on his arms and legs with silver spikes stretched out, chains wrapped around certain areas of his body, and a blood red cape outstretched far beyond his height attached to him by metallic skulls. His dark green eyes glow as they stare below.

"Tonight, another demon appears." Yoshimitsu states, as he quickly stands on two legs. He resumes his pogo stance and takes off into the air.

"This new person is giving me a bad feeling..." Link mutters low enough only for his friends to hear. They nod in response.

"I don't have time to deal with weaklings like you!" yells the hellish figure, whose cape flows easily through the pouring rain. He takes to the skies, his body seemingly pushing aside the rain as he flies.

"Nani! But how!" He practically shouts, and for good reason. Some unknown person with a demonic appearance suddenly flies. Said person raises his right hand, and his cape transforms into an ax. With one mighty swing he destroys his katana and right arm in one fell swoop.

Yoshimitsu coughs up a major amount of blood after he crashes to the ground. The man follows and lands perfectly. As he goes through Yoshimitsu's body, the others remain frozen after seeing this man has defeated an opponent that gave them so much trouble, granted he was already battered. He removes two shards from Yoshimitsu, out of his wooden arm's remains and the sword and places them in his cape that has returned to being a cape.

The costumed anti-hero stares at the group nearby. "I take it you're after his shards..." He then notices Link, and his ears. "...What is this a fairy tale?"

"Yes. Why do you want them?" Link asks, walking forward with his blade in his left hand and shield in right. Cassandra grabs him and pulls the Hylian back.

"No Link! You can't handle him in your condition," says the blond swordswoman, not wanting him to get anymore hurt than he already is.

"That's none of your business." The man turns his eyes to Link, where he feels

"I just might." He replied, as both characters stared at one another, a battle may be commencing before their very eyes.

Elsewhere...

France, a wondrous place to go; in one of its more major cities more people live their lives and frolic. But, at a night like this, no one would ever want to be around this place ever again.

On top of a couple of rooftops stand two fighting foes. One of them is a large man in azure armor. It covers his entire body, save for his right arm which strangely is a large, grotesque, tan, three fingered claw. His helmet eye-sockets reveal glowing red eyes. The man before this abominable monster is a blond Frenchman dressed as a noble. He has green eyes and tan skin.

"So, she was telling the truth after all. The wielder of Soul Edge, Nightmare, has definitely lost some strength," he speaks, swiping his rapier in the air. He then points it to him, saying, "You're too weak for that, aren't you?"

The azure knight growls evilly as he lifts his humongous blade with his single human arm. Energy releases from the sword the moment he stabs the roof he stands on with it. This is no ordinary blade; with an eye in the center of it, flesh covering certain parts of the blade and a dark, evil aura emitting from it, this sword can only be the acclaimed Soul Edge.

"To hell with you, you conceited wretched human!" yells the dreaded powerhouse, heisting the sword onto his shoulders. He charges forward, preparing to end his foe in one blow.

End Chapter...


	6. The Return of Two Friends

**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here that belongs to Namco or Nintendo.

Kenshin: This chapter is a redux.

**_Chapter 6: The Meeting of Two Friends  
_**

"Link, no!" Maxi stands before the elf and the hellish figure that has just arrived. It could be just fear, which was uncommon for a pirate of his caliber, the green glowing eyes that no one else seemed to possessed, or the fact that he just dropped their foe in less than a second, but Maxi just wants to avoid as much contact with this person as possible. "We don't need to be making more enemies, especially at this point in time."

"Maxi, this guy has the shards we've been working hard for..." Link states, staring at the masked person. "...and he's obviously not gonna give them to us."

"You damn right I ain't." The man chuckles, his cape remaining still in the cold pouring rain. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are with those fake ears but stay out of my way."

"Fuck?" Cassandra repeats.

"These are real!" In the heat of the moment Link pushes Maxi aside and charges into battle against the monster, this hellish figure. "I don't care how strong he is! I'm going to destroy that sword, and if he gets in our way him!"

"Destroy?" The green-eyed figure turns towards the Hero of Time, each footstep he makes splashing water. "Destroy Soul Edge? A pathetic bitch who couldn't handle that freak earlier has no chance against Soul Edge, let alone me." His taunting angers Link more.

The enraged Hylian bursts forward at extreme speed, holding his sword and shield out to harpoon through his target. Said target spins around to avoid the blow, and back-hand punches his shoulder. Link turns around in time to raise his shield and block, just as spikes extend from the red gauntlet. The punch itself manages to send him flying into a rock formation generated from Yoshimitsu's pogo stance and stick inside it. The rock soon cracks before falling completely apart and Link falls to the ground.

"Link, no!" Cassandra wastes no time heading towards the Hyrulean swordsman, hoping he was perfectly okay. Maxi slaps his forehead out of irritation towards Link, wishing he hadn't bothered doing something so stupid. By the time she reaches him the masked man approaches the Master Sword Link dropped.

The second he touches the sword a burning sensation forces him to drop it. The black latex burns away to reveal a hand melted of skin. He stares at his temporarily burned hand, right before the black suit heals over. The brief moment could be seen by the others. "Oh, I see. That sword is a holy weapon like that Soul Calibur I heard of."

Cassandra helps Link to his feet. The two of them now stare at the hellish warrior, whose face mask has come off. The group back away seeing the grotesque sight of his face. The man's entire head has been burned off, the visible layer of skin he used to have gone and only a burnt face left. His ears, hair, lips, even his nose are all gone. He still retains green glowing eyes however.

"Alright, who are you? Or should I ask, what are you?" questions the long eared swordsman. His mask reforms on his face.

"You seem to be someone I can rely on in the future. I can always hold onto these before we meet again. Apparently we're both after the same objective," speaks the jumpsuit wearer, his body levitating into the air. "What is your name?"

"You know, it's customary to tell your own name before asking for another; But it's Link," The elf replies, staring at the hellish warrior. "And you are?"

"Spawn is good enough for you." With that, the costumed warrior takes off into the skies, the rain going around him as he soars. Maxi breathes a sigh of relief before kicking Yoshimitsu aside.

"Great. Just great. I'll ignore the guy with the shape-shifting costume, but I can't stay sober over the fact that we lost two pieces of Soul Edge. What now?" complains Maxi, walking around in circles to calm himself down.

"Well, if we had rush him we might have gotten them back, but NOOOO! You wanted to play it safe, and Link got hurt!" Cassandra yells, walking closer to the elven swordsman. Link suddenly slips down to his knees, causing her to reach without thinking and kneel down to help him up. "Link, you okay?"

"Don't worry, I get hurt all the time. Since Spawn has those two we'll have to focus on the other ones. Let's go before people find out we did this." Still holding his bleeding wound Link limps off towards town. Cassandra on the other hand wouldn't have any of it, and hoists him up with her right arm. "Cassandra, you don't have to-"

"Link, shut up. I'm helping you, no matter what anyone, even you, say or do." Those words somehow stop him from replying back; In all his travels he's faced against many a tricky monster and foe. Whether they were monsters, freaks, human-sized swordsmen, overgrown animals or dragons, he's triumphed over all of them. But for some strange reason he can't seem to talk back to this Greek swordswoman who he's spent so much time with. He hasn't been this star-struck since Zelda.

'Wait, am I falling in love?' he asks himself as he continues walking with Cassandra.

"Heh, the honeymoon must be over." Maxi taunts, knowing how much she hates having him make fun of them every-time they're together. It gives the intended effect; Cassandra blushes and says words to try and prove her innocence. But it also brings about another issue; Link turns red too. Maxi has always known Cassandra has feelings for Link and taunts her about it, but Link doing so can only lead the fact that he might return those feelings.

"Anyway, let's keep moving," Link says, still red from the comment about them being a couple. Cassandra just looks away from him, blushing up a storm and helping him move onward to a motel. Maxi follows behind.

"Damn it. Now I can't make fun of them anymore." He complains under his breath, and soon they become scarce.

Later That Night Ancient Ruins Near France...

A large figure donned in azure armor slowly drags his body away from his last destination. Looking around he grasps his head with his deformed arm to escape from an inner turmoil.

"I...cannot...let him use me...again! I am Siegfried, not that Nightmare!" he yells, slowly pulling along the demon sword Soul Edge with his human hand. His travel brings him to a shrine; The entire landscape of the place is ruined with boulders and rocks sprout out all over the place. Not a single sign of life can be seen around anywhere, nor could there be anything of value there.

As he approaches the top of the plateau he spots a sleek steel sword, colored blue, stabbed into the ground. It has twin blades and a black handle. Runic symbols can be seen underneath the guard, which consists of wings and a crystal core. Staring at the sword, Siegfried grins. "There it is. The sword that appeared within Soul Edge."

_"This is the end!" Nightmare stabs down at the blond French, intending to end his life. He grabs his rapier and stabs the eye of Soul Edge, despite the many wounds he's received._

_Nightmare screams, pulling Soul Edge back as he grabs the right side of his head in pain. The building underneath the French collapses, taking him with it, while the azure knight falls off the building. Face up and in pain, he can only watch as the sword Soul Edge seems to spit out a blue sword. The sword shoots out from the demon weapon, going just east of his direction. _

_Nightmare rises up from the ground, his eyes now returned to their normal shade._

The sword calls out to him mentally. 'Stab me into Soul Edge.' the feminine voice says to him. The knight approaches the sword at a quick pace, grabbing the blade with his disfigured arm. The moment he does it instantly reverts back into a normal human arm.

'This is, this is it! This is the true Sword of Salvation! Soulcalibur...' Siegfried thought, then glared at the evil sword in his other hand. Dropping it to the ground he holds the blue weapon in his two hands and punctures the very core of Soul Edge, straight into its eye. At first it does nothing, but then after a few seconds he feels a major change.

No later than that does the evil voice of Nightmare disappear from his mind, his arm completely reverts back to human, and the blood shot eyes he's cursed to own disappears, turning back into the cerulean blue he was born with and had so wanted to see for a long time. Pulling the sword out from the evil blade he notices it had changed somehow; it has become shorter, looks a bit tainted, and has a moving eye just like Soul Edge.

"What have I done to you?" Siegfried is completely in the dark on what just happened. While it is nice that he's free his plan was to destroy Soul Edge using Soul Calibur. Now, not only have the two swords changed shape, but its strange appearance frightens him.

"I thank you for coming." Turning around Siegfried has no chance to see correctly who it was who spoke; he receives a powerful jab to his face, sending him tumbling down the steps leading to the high point of the plateau. "You were troublesome to find, but now I have to take you out of the game. Since you couldn't properly use it, I'll find someone else who can use Soul Calibur instead." As these words were spoken, Siegfried looks up from where he fell, only to see the mysterious person, Soul Edge, and Soul Calibur are gone.

"Who was that guy?" Siegfried asks himself as he looks around for the swords and his attacker. "That fool doesn't know what he's doing..."

That Night...

"Ow, damn it! This much alcohol should be illegal!" Link yells, blowing on the wound on his waist. He's currently lying in the bed of a motel, recovering from his injuries. Looking before him Casandra and Maxi both are sitting in chairs staring at him.

"Link, I'm still not sure it's just a coincidence that guy came by. He might have been following us through the shadows," Maxi says, tightening the bottle of rubbing alcohol and putting it away. "He might be following us right now."

"I hope not; if he is we'll be in trouble." Cassandra states, clutching her hands together. Thinking over what he did to Link makes Cassie tighten her fists. "It also means we'll have to take him more seriously if he wishes to take us out."

"You guys worry too much; a part of me thinks he might be on our side," Link says, rubbing the wounds on his waist. He digs into his bag and reveals the box containing his shards. "He didn't come after our shards knowing we would have them. I actually feel he might be a powerful asset to us later."

Maxi stares blankly at him with beat eyes. "Only you can come up with such groundless statements. Let's just ignore him for now and think of our finances."

"But you brought it up! And what about money?" Both Link and Cassandra shout at the same time. Link's excitement causes him to grab his wound and fall backwards on the bed in pain.

"Guys, we're completely spent because of the bills for Mr. Hero over there. Right now we're strapped for gold. What do we do?" His words gain Cassandra's attention, who begins thinking of a plan.

"Oh. We can always get jobs to temporarily earn gold." The Grecian suggests, thinking of some way to pay off the bills.

"I thought that too; But it wouldn't be enough. My option, is to become pirates." This proposal Maxi makes had her angry and Link with his mouth open, in excitement. But it instantly changes to fear when she throws a fist into the pirate's jaw.

"There's NO WAY in hell I'm becoming a filthy pirate! They pillage towns, murder innocent people, slaughter even their own kind, and rape women and children!" Her breathing becomes heavy after each loud yell. Maxi proceeds to fixing his jaw so he could speak again. "They're evil fiends who can't live peacefully in society! Not to mention the one that ruined Sophitia's health IS a pirate!"

"Not all of them are so terrible. I mean, look at me." This is a bad example since Cassie smacks her forehead in disappointment. Link only sighs, as does Maxi. "Okay, if you will. We'll only steal from other pirates."

"...I'll think about it," she says, laying on the bed across Link's legs, which are under the sheets. Maxi sighs and heads out the door. The minute he leaves Cassandra turns to Link. She stares at the laying Hylian, thinking about his reckless actions back then and his dedication to Zelda.

"Link, I want to ask you something, and be truthful; If your wife Zelda was still alive, along with your world, would you have stayed with her instead of living here with me?" she asks, half knowing what the answer would be. Without so much as a minute to think, Link comes up with an answer.

"I would live with Zelda of course. She was after all my wife." At the sound of this, she can feel her eyes growing kinda watery. Cassandra almost begins to cry, before Link retorts with, "But I couldn't just leave you alone! I would visit you whenever and you could come see me anytime you wish. After all we are friends, right?"

At the end of his words, drips of liquid shoot out of her eyes when she blinks. She looks down at the bed and slows her crying. 'I shouldn't be feeling so sad. I knew the answer, yet it pains me...' "I see. Thank you."

"Hey guys!" Maxi yells, popping his head into the room to see what they were up to. This sudden shock makes both of them shoot up fast and glare evilly at him. "What?"

"What the hell did you do that for?" Cassandra asks him, looking up at him with evil enraged eyes.

"Sorry. But, they only had two rooms left besides this. So you guys have to book up." He then tosses them the keys and leaves out. Both of them looked at one another, then quickly turned away blushing.

"I can always stay on the floor." He suggests, looking at her through the corner of his eyes. She placed a hand onto his own, and smiled.

"You're injured, so we're sharing the bed." She replies, causing him to look away.

"Uh, I'm not sure if I-" She stops him by placing a hand to his shoulder.

"I mean it." She proceeds looking into his eyes to try and gain contact with him. His eyes slowly shifts out from where he was looking at, and stares into the soul-warming crystal green pearls embedded into her face, growing a distinguished smile as well. The minute he makes this action her heart flutters inside like tiny butterflies were born within and her face heats up like a sword being made by a blacksmith. 'I think...I _am_ falling in love with him. But is this really love? I bet sis would know about this...'

"Uh, Cassie? Is something wrong?" Link asks of her, looking at the confused girl as she stares off into space. The Greek woman comes out of her stupor and saw she has been staring out for minutes. "You've like that for a while."

Her face became even redder and looked at him sorrily. "Sorry. I was just thinking of something. But you don't have to sleep on the floor."

"I...oh fine," he says, lying back on the bed. It's still night so he just did what was normal, fall asleep.

Hours Later...

Link slowly opens his eyes, looking up to see the dark room he was sleeping in. 'Still can't sleep...I wonder what Maxi's doin-ah!' He finally notices the beautiful girl sleeping on his chest. Somehow in the midst of the night she creeps her form onto him, gripping onto him tightly for warmth. And it looks like she's enjoying what she's sleeping on.

'Crap. She's gripped too tightly. Eh, she's not hurting anyone, I just hope I don't grow while she's gripped onto me.' Link's thoughts bring him to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her tight. 'I just hope she doesn't kick me there again when we wake up.' He then closes his eyes.

Hours Later The Next Morning...

Dawn breaks into the daylight hour; As someone was beginning to wake up. The Greek warrior Cassandra slowly opens her eyes to the light of day, and sees the wonderful face of the man she slept next to. Blushing slightly she looks at him and raises her body up, having her lower half still lay on his body. Her naked left hand places itself onto his right cheek, and rub it slightly.

"Such a beautiful face. I really need to know..." speaks Cassandra softly as she caresses his cheek. Her face slowly comes to his own, her pink lips puckering up to plant the greatest kiss she can muster. 'I'm doing it. I'm doing it!' She comes surprisingly close to kissing him she began blushing. But the strangest thing happened; His eyes shot open.

Cassandra stopped her descent to his mouth quick, and looked at him with an incredible blush on her cheeks. She raises her head above to look down, as he sits himself up and gets a better view of her wardrobe; it's a nightgown she brought with her for nights.

"Ah, good morning Cassandra," Link says, giving her one happy smile. After all he has just woke up on a bright day with his injuries more or less completely healed. Her reaction could have been clouded with embarrassment, or just fogged with thoughts concerning what she feels for Link, or the fact that they were both awake and basically wearing their underwear, but she closes her eyes tight, reels her left arm back, and launches a punch that flattens him onto the bed. Realizing what she did she holds her hands to her mouth, and blushes even more.

At that moment Maxi comes walking into the room, fully dressed it seems, in time to see Cassandra holding her face. "Hey guys time to-" He freezes when he spots the two of them together, with her on top of him. Obviously he takes it the wrong way. "Uh, was I walking in on something?"

"Dumbass! Don't be so stupid! We were just waking up!" Cassandra shouts before she throws a book at him. "Now get out! I'm changing!" she yells, as Maxi went back out. Quickly she heads into the bathroom to get changed. Link finally wakes back up, wondering what happened this time.

"Did she hit me again?" asks the Hylian of no one in particular. He looks up to see where he is before getting up to get dressed. He soon hears the water running and cuffs his chin. "She's probably in the bath. Better stay away from her for now..."

Hours Later...

"So where to now?" Link asks his friends as he, Maxi and Cassandra stare out into the forest. After paying for their room stay they head out for the next shard of Soul Edge, right after they tackle their gold problem. "I really think we should try and earn more cash like Maxi said."

"See? He listens to me!" The pirate speaks, staring at the Greek woman. She only frowns.

"Oh fine; we'll go to the high seas. But we aren't gonna steal treasure!" Cassandra says while walking across the moist road towards their next destination. "Where is the coastline though?"

"Hello out there!" A voice yells out. Link, Cassandra and Maxi all look over to see who it was, and find a girl dressed in light blue clothing carrying a thin sword with a guy in red clothes and a red staff on his back. Cassie and Maxi don't know who they were, but Link sure does.

"Hey, what are they doing here?" Link asks as the two newcomers approach them. The girl is the first to speak.

"Oi, Kilik, it's Link!" says the woman of Chinese origin, then pauses to look at who else is with him. That's when she sees Maxi. Her hands come up to her mouth in shock as tears lightly flow from her eyes. "MAXI!" She jumps up and hugs the pirate tight, causing him to freak out at first before smiling.

"Whoa! I didn't think I was this popular with the ladies," Maxi says with a chuckle, pushing the Asian chick off of him. The other guy, now identified as Kilik, gasps upon seeing the pirate.

"Hey it is them...Maxi, where have you been this entire time?" asks the bo user, wondering why he seemed so shock to see her at first.

"Eh? Who are you?" Maxi asks, giving another shock.

"Stop playing, Maxi! There's no way you can forget about us!" says the girl this time.

"You really don't remember us, do you?" Kilik asks him. Maxi only shakes his head to give a negative response. Cassandra unfortunately is in the dark about everything, being the only one with no real connection to these two.

"Wait, how the hell do you two know Link and Maxi?" asks the Greek sword wielder. Kilik turns to the girl to give his response, his auburn hair and red jacket blowing in the breeze.

"My name is Kilik and this here is Xianghua. Maxi and I met when I was looking for transportation in India." As Kilik speaks, Maxi suddenly grasps his head as he remembers something concerning a monster attacking him and his crew in India. "While I was waiting a monster called Astaroth appeared and killed his entire crew, until we teamed up to repel it. When we met Xianghua we set our sights to destroying Soul Edge and assaulted Nightmare's castle. He stayed behind to fight that same monster, and we've lost track of him ever since. As for Link..." He turns to the elven swordsman, as does everyone else.

"We met him weeks after the assault, bloodied and beaten like he was in a dangerous fight. It was risky, but we nursed him back to health. And after teaching him English he told us about his story, mentioning it having something to do with Soul Edge and some guy named Ganondorf who killed his wife..." Xianghua concludes, finishing off what Kilik started. "We were ready and willing to help him, but he was persistent in doing it himself, so he left by himself. I don't know how he got help from Maxi and this girl..."

The mention of being called that way drove Cassandra the wrong way, and she stared glaringly at her. "Is there a problem with 'this girl'? After all, I do have a name!"

"Okay, what is it, heitan-chan?" asks the Chinese swordswoman, staring at her without a care in the world.

"Heitan? Forget it; it's Cassandra Alexandra." retorts the blond woman, before she then turns to Link. "Are you really after Soul Edge for someone else?"

Link takes a minute to think, then shakes his head no. "If I find Soul Edge, I'll find Ganondorf, and then I'll have my revenge; that was my plan in the first place."

End Chapter...

Heitan: flat. I had Xianghua call her flat-chan to make fun of her chest. Although this is just her making fun of Cassie; I mean, even you can tell she ain't flat.


	7. Pirate Battle On The Seas

**A Love Forged By Souls and Swords**

Disclaimer: Why do I even bother? Just check the last chapter.

Kenshin: Wow. This chapter is also a redux.

**_Chapter 7: Pirate Battle On The Sea_**

"So Link, how have things been going for you?" Kilik asks the pointy eared swordsman, who saunters over to the nearest tree to sit down.

"Pretty much dull. I haven't been able to find any sign of Ganondorf ever since we parted. It was only months after searching Japan that I've found a shard. Eventually I met Cassandra and we've been traveling together ever since." Link starts, remembering everything that has happened to him before up to now. Cassandra sits right beside him, pressing her back against the hard bark of the tree "It wasn't long afterwards that we found Maxi here stealing food and money."

"Hey! You only saw me steal one thing, and it was those stupid shoes you bought for her." The pirate protests, pointing at the still lovely Greek sandals Cassandra wears on her feet. Xianghua looks at them, and shows a smiling expression of envy.

Kilik only glares unimpressed at Maxi. "You were stealing shoes?"

"No! I thought it was food or money! Turns out my mistake was a lot better than I figured. So in exchange for joining their travels I helped them find the latest piece, which got stolen." replies the pirate, still embarrassed about finding shoes. Xianghua still stares at them, causing Cassandra to feel a little distill.

"Why are you looking at my legs? Do you fancy them so much?" she asks the Asian starer.

"These shoes are gorgeous! They absolutely fit your outfit..." Xianghua then turns to Link, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Link must really love you to go out of his way to buy something for such an ordinary girl." The moment she said 'love' both Link and Cassandra blush deep red, both stil unaware of eachother's feelings.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Hers fell into some mucky quicksand and well...who am I to let her walk around bare-foot?" Link tries to convince her to back off a bit, but alas Xianghua's still not falling for it. Kilik does nothing to tease them, instead just sighing and pulling Xianghua away from them. "But anyways, what's up with you two? Last I heard the both of yous were heading for Germany."

"Germany? Nah, those people won't allow our kind there." Kilik states, laying against a tree with his Chinese friend on his lap.

"What, Chinese people?" The two of them shake their heads.

"People coming from recent battles concerning Soul Edge. They're not too keen on malfested, what with the evil seed." Xianghua concludes, wrapping her arms around Kilik's neck and pulling him a little too close to herself. If this isn't obvious then nothing is.

"So, you'll be coming with us now right? We're going to find some jobs out near the sea border, and this time we could probably use some help." Link suggests, pulling out his compass.

"So, you've finally come to value teamwork..." The bo master shifts his head to Xianghua. "What do you think?"

"I would like that. It would be fun to watch Maxi make a fool out of himself again." The Chinese woman leans in and plants a kiss on his lips, and upon removing herself the two see the ridiculous faces on all three of their faces. "Did I mention we're lovers now?"

Two Days Later...

"So it was you, wasn't it?" Link asks in a whispering voice. Right now the group has gone to Southern China and are resting within a comfortable inn. Himself and Kilik are talking to one another in the bed room. In reaction Kilik only pulls out two pairs of panties; one was black lace and the other was white with a star in the front.

"Yup. It was simple really." Kilik hands Link the underwear.

_Flashback Last Night..._

_"Ok, which one of you perverts was it?" Cassandra asks, pulling out a pair of panties. She stands alongside Xianghua before Link, Maxi and Kilik who are sitting on one of the beds they rented with the room. "Who went through our stuff?"_

_"You two are seriously paranoid. What makes you think we did it anyway?" Link asks them, knowing he for sure didn't do it or was convinced something even happened._

_'"Just to let you know Link I fold my underwear very specifically; Into little squares." Xianghua states, giving proof by folding the pair Cassandra had like so. The Greek woman looked then at Maxi._

_"I bet it was you." She accuses, staring at the pirate with much malice._

_"I didn't do it! I swear on my pirate honor!" Maxi pledges, bringing out as much confidence as he could._

_"Of course it was the pirate." Blames Kilik._

_"AAAHH!" Maxi can't believe what was going on; he's being blamed for something he didn't do. So with no alternative in sight, he flees._

_End Flashback..._

"Why did you blame it on him?" Link asks, cross eyed to express irritation. Kilik gives out a heavy sigh.

"Being a monk I had to give up all worldly desires, including my own. So it stands to reason how hard it is to control my desires..." Kilik takes the underwear away from Link, who, subconsciously is reluctant when he discovers they're Cassandra's, and continues with, "It wasn't so bad being around Xianglian, but being alone with Xianghua I couldn't help myself. Even after we're together it's an addiction I'm having a hard time suppressing, and it'll change her opinion about me if she found out."

Kilik then grabs Link by his collar. "And that is why you can't tell her or anyone."

Link drops sweat and gives out a regretful sigh. "I wish you had told me that earlier," says Link, pointing behind him with his right thumb at the door. Curious on what he meant, Kilik lets go of him and walks over to the door. He opens it, and pales when his fears are realized; Xianghua and Cassandra are both at the door.

"Xianghua! Cassie! What's up?" asks the bo master nervously.

"Don't refer to me in the familiar!" Cassandra leaps and Kilik, throwing a punch to his face.

The Next Morning...

Link lonely wanders a bright dimension. Everywhere he looks there is some rainbow colored design. 'Where am I?' he asks himself, looking around for anyone. A dark blue sunlike object beams down on him from above.

"Hello? Guys, where are you?" Link calls out, still a little freaked about the situation he was in. "Cassandra! Kilik! Maxi! Xianghua! Where are you?" He starts getting a little worried. 'Cassandra, I hope you're okay.'

"How can you worry about some tramp over your wife?" A voice speaks out to him. It's not so much how sudden the voice is, or how close it was to him; it's the fact that it sounds so incredibly familiar that it makes Link sweat. He turns around quickly and the moment he lays his eyes on the source of the voice he becomes instantly struck with confusion, for the person he sees is not who he was expecting ever to see again; Zelda. "Zelda!"

"Of course!" Zelda wears her traditional pink and white dress, the same he remembers her having before she died. But what's different now is that she has blade wounds all over, torn clothes, and aqua-green skin like she decayed. She's also bleeding, especially from the mouth. She grips his neck with her right arm and throws him out to whatever space they were in. Unluckily for him a wall appears right in front of him just as he crashes into it. As he begins to regain composure the walls secrete a rainbow ooze that bond his arms and legs completely.

"Zelda, how is this possible! What are you doing?" asks the distraught Hylian, trying to pull himself off of the wall. Zelda only chuckles.

"Oh my Link, how I've longed to see you again. I've been waiting for you to come..." She speaks in a booming, yet feminine voice.

"You were...waiting for me? You mean you never died?" He asks in a practically shouting tone, still trying to get off the wall. "Why am I stuck on this?"

"Link," Zelda holds onto the middle of her chest with both hands. "You promised your eternal love to me once, swearing you would never love another person like me again...yet you have easily given up on me for someone else!"

"Zelda-"

"Don't interrupt me!" she interrupts him before flicking her left hand fingers. This causes another wall to appear, which has another person on it; it's Cassandra badly beaten. "After being driven apart from you for so long, I have never stopped loving you...even the pain of being inside of his body all this time, having to suffer while gaining control over it..."

"Cassandra! What is the meaning of this Zelda?" Link asks, still trying to pry himself free, regardless of how futile it seems. Zelda has her eyes closed, as tears flee from her shielded windows.

"I realized the depths of my love for you through that suffering..." She wipes the tears away, as her eyes open again and she gains a malicious smile. "Now I shall make you suffer as well, and let you see just how much loving me means to you!" Before malevolently laughing she digs her right hand into the chest of the now conscious Cassandra and twists it about. This causes the Greek to writhe in pain, screaming out while regurgitating blood. "I'm sorry, but this would have never happened if you hadn't fallen in love with him..."

"Cassandra..." Link has a defeated look of sadness upon his face, shocked to the very core that Zelda would be so obsessive of him as to kill off anyone she deems competition. "Please let her go!" Link struggles even harder to break free. Cassandra then opens her pain filled eyes to take one last look at Link.

"Link, I-I just want to say..." She coughs up blood as Zelda continues wiggling her fingers in her body. "I...I...l-lo-love-"

Zelda rips out Cassandra's heart, leaving Link's mind to break.

"NO!" Link yells, rising his upper body from his bed as he awakens up from whatever freakish nightmare he was subjected to. He breathes heavily as he wonders what just happened. Looking around he notes that it's daylight, and he's still in bed. "Oh thank god. It was just a dream...the worse dream I ever had...Even worse than that nightmare about him."

"What was?" Link turns to his right to see Maxi and Kilik up and about, probably from his yelling. Kilik repeats, "Like I asked what were you dreaming about?"

"Oh, uh...I don't want to say. It's kinda personal..." Link says, looking down at himself to think over what happened. 'Zelda, why did you look like that? What does this mean? Do I...really care for Cassandra in that way?'

Link plants his feet onto the floor, and grabs the clothes he removed to sleep. Looking to his left, where the wall between him and the girl's room is, he begins to ponder over how strong his feelings for Cassandra have become, and how his enemies would most likely take advantage of it. He starts to realize that she could become a potential target for many, but soon dismisses that thought when she and Xianghua come walking through the door.

"Hey, we heard a yell. Is everything alright?" Xianghua asks, walking in through the door with her hair a bit ruffled. Cassandra is currently fixing hers now.

"Link had a nightmare, and apparently it was his worse yet." Maxi's word make Link dart evil eyes at him. The now concerned Cassandra walks up to Link, sitting next to him. She then grabs his face with both hands on his cheeks and turns him to look at her face.

"Link, are you okay? Is there something you would like to talk about?" asks the Greek woman, looking into his eyes to see what troubles him so. He's trying hard to divert his eyes somewhere else, but can't seem to bring himself to look away from her sparkling emerald eyes. A part of Cassandra finds herself staring off into space, or what she would call his clear sapphire eyes.

"I'm fine. It's nothing to concern yourself with." Link hopes his words will get her to not worry so much, but she's not so easily convinced.

"Link, I can tell if you're lying by looking into your eyes." She states, still looking into his eyes. Her face unconsciously moves a little closer to his bit by bit. "Link, please, if there's something troubling you I would like to help you get through it. After all we're friends, and that's what we do."

Link places his left hand onto her right. "It's okay Cassie. I'll be fine by myself. If I need to talk to someone about something, you'll be the first I go to," he replies, allowing her to relax and smile. This brightness makes him smile as well.

"It' a Kodak moment." Xianghua speaks, making the two lovebirds look at her; the Chinese girl and Maxi snicker at their predicament, while Kilik looks away uninterested. They then look at eachother, and she quickly pushes him away upon realizing how close they are to eachother. Link repeats this action, and both turn as red as a tomato.

Kilik stands from his bed, saying, "It's time for us to go. We're needed at the docks soon."

Open Sea...

Out on the open sea, well the Philippine actually, a rather large ship can be seen traveling west of the world globe. On board the S.S. Merry Go are a group of sailors on board to keep a cargo safe. It truly is a great-

"I'm gonna be sick!" Well, it's not that great, considering the fact that someone is sick. Standing on the port side is Link, enjoying the sight of the sea. The sick comes running out of stocks to the side of the rail, and immediately spits out puke. This freaks Link out in the process.

"Uh, Cassandra? Are you okay?" asks Link, looking at the blond Greek next to him. She raises her head up to him, owning a green look with some disgusting goop leaking out of her mouth.

"No. I...always get seasick..." says the poor girl, "It's something I've always-" Her eyes suddenly shoot open, and she grips her mouth with both hands. She then turns to the side and hurls more junk.

"I guess not," says the disgusted Hylian as he lightly pats her back.

"Guess she ain't use to the sea," Maxi saays to himself, looking down at Link and Cassandra while standing above in the crow's nest. Other sailors have accompanied him, and are presently on the look out.

"I don't feel so good," Xianghua mutters, hanging the top half of her body along the railing.

Kilik, who has a safe distance from her whenever she would spit up, continues to pat her back. With a groan he says, "I hope we get to our destination soon..."

But that's when something strange happens; dark clouds gather and turn the sky dark, almost as if it was a bad omen. Looking up Link begins to feel uneasy. 'This doesn't look good.'

"Huh. The sky just turned dark," speaks a random sailor.

"But it's still the morning..." Another adds, looking up at the clouds.

"Cassie, there's a storm coming." Link says, looking up at the sky before he turns towards the slowly recovering girl.

"Well we can always fight to survive. It's just a storm, not some god trying to punish us," she manages to say, wiping her mouth of the gunk she spat up earlier.

"No. It's not that kinda storm. Something's coming, or someone..." Link points out to sea ahead of them. Looking forward Cassandra pales as she realizes what he's talking about.

"No. It's him!" Cassandra starts breathing heavily, as the worse fear to come before her has arrived; out before them are battered ships, each adorning black flags above their main masses. Standing on the main ship's front symbol is the most feared pirate of all the Mediterranean seas, Cervantes de Leon.

"Link, I can't be here! I have to leave!" shouts the scared woman. She runs off inside to hide. Link grabs hold of her left arm, and turns her around. "No, please! I can't let him see me!"

"Cassandra! Look! At! Me!" He shakes her up a bit, trying to get her to concentrate. The Alexandra stares at him, totally mortified over the thought of having to face that monster. "Cassie...you aren't afraid of him, are you?"

"I-no I...mm, yes..." She confesses, looking at him. "I'm terribly sorry! I couldn't do anything to him the last time we met. After hearing what he did to my sister it mortified me to death. I'm sorry."

Hearing her be afraid of someone is an entirely new experience for him; for as long as he knew her Cassandra has never been afraid of anyone. She has always been so headstrong and fearless, much like him. "Cassie, we'll find some way through this."

"PIRATE ATTACK!" yells a sailor as everyone prepares himself for battle. Maxi pulls out his weapon, as do Kilik and Xianghua.

"Guess it's time for you bodyguards to keep your end," says the captain, coming out from below the ship alongside some others. Link straps his sword and shield on his back.

"Cassandra, I'm going to fight him myself. Don't worry, I won't let him come near you," he says, holding her hands as he says this. Releasing her he runs to the front of the ship, Taking out his Clawshot he prepares to grapple over to Cervantes' ship, but that's when Cassandra grabs his right arm with her left and turns him to face her. "Cassie?"

"Link, I-I want to go with you," she says to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"But aren't you scared?"

"I am, but I can't let fear rule my life...I want to overcome this, and help you..." Cassandra raises her head to look into his eyes. "Oh Link. I...I'm not sure if these feelings are right...but I...I-"

Her confession is cut short when the ship gets blasted by cannon fire. Realizing that now is not the right time, she sighs and keeps her mouth shut. "I'll tell you later. Link, please just promise you'll survive, and I'll promise to fight as hard as I can..." says the blond Grecian.

Link smiles at her and gives a nod, before stretching his Clawshot out to the main ship. The grapple end attaches itself to the top of the main mass, and pulls Link and Cassandra towards the pirate ship. As they fly above they spot smaller vessels sailing towards the boat they left.

"Do you think Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua will be okay?" Cassandra asks as they soar over the sea. Link at the moment isn't really paying attention, instead full set on making sure what he dreamed will never come true.

"They'll be fine. They're survivors after all." assures the Hylian. His eyes look up the moment he hears thunder. It's like there really is a storm coming. Lightning strikes down from the clouds, the wind blows in their faces, and as Link and Cassandra come ever so closer to Cervantes, said pirate remains in his position as if waiting for them.

"It's about time you two showed up. I get revenge AND more power." The Spanish pirate begins to chuckle, before it blows into full maniacal laughter. "Men, prepare for battle! Our guests aren't leaving alive!"

Our two protagonists finally reach the pirate vessel. The minute they approach the main mass Link disconnects the Clawshot from it, so they would land on the big flag. "Hold on tight." Link advises, and Cassandra does just so. He grabs her sword and stabs into the sail, using it to slower their descent to the ship.

The duo land safely, already surrounded by four pirates. All four brandish sabers and smile viciously. One of them ogles Cassandra's butt and says, "Hello! Why don't you ditch the loser and we spare you? Maybe join our rankings as an 'official' crew member?" Her lustful glares go unnoticed by her. Her eyes have been locked onto Cervantes, who hasn't left his post even when they boarded, the moment they landed. She takes her weapon back from Link and walks towards the captain.

"Guess the lady prefers class, even though he ain't that much better than you four." Link taunts, causing the four to grow slightly pissed.

Cassandra keeps her eyes locked onto Cervantes, trying her hardest not to show any signs of fear. 'Be brave. Just think of Link...'

"Let's massacre this boy!" All four yell angrily in unison, thrusting their swords at the Hylian. He ducks out of the way and makes a spin. This allows him to draw his sword while putting away his Clawshot, and perform a Spin Attack; he easily slashes all four unsuspecting buccaneers up by their chests. He knocks back three of them, but one was surprisingly tougher and manages to live through the attack. "You bastard!"

"Oh, you survived?" Link comments. As the guy swings his blade vertically, Link blocks with his sword and pushes him aside.

"You..." Cassandra halts her movements, the result of him moving around to glare at her.

"Ah, it's so nice to meet you again. Will you be needing the help of your lover again?" The dreaded pirate speaks, smiling as he looks at Cassandra. She appears shaky, infact she is; the fear of someone who did that to her sister attacking her is only natural. But she is determined to face him regardless of how it will turn out.

"No. There is too much burdening Link now. Him having to save me all the time is not only shameful to my pride as a warrior, but..." She closes her eyes for a moment, then opens up with a more determined look in them. "Even if I'm afraid of you, I cannot let this fear hold him down. He needs our help more than anyone in the world, and I won't let you kill him!"

"...Is that so?" Cervantes draws his two weapons, a gun-sword and Soul Edge. "Too bad for you then."

Cassandra leaps into the air, swinging her sword down at him. The old pirate blocks the strike with his smaller weapon. Her feet manage to hit the ground, providing her extra support and movement. But as she pushes him back she notices a smirk on his face.

"Blast!" he shouts, adjusting the thumb on the hand holding the sword to the back of the handle. Cassandra's eyes widen when she notices what he's about to do the moment she hears a click.

A bullet fires out of the sword's handle, right where her face is. Lucky for her he leaps back in time to dodge the bullet, then flips back onto her feet. 'This doesn't seem as easy as I thought.'

Link easily blocks another strike from his pirate opponent, and manages to land a kick to his opponent's pancreas. After coughing up blood he falls to his knees. "Give it up. I don't want to kill you, maybe your captain."

The pirate picks himself back up, muttering, "Oh you have no idea..."

Off by the sides of the stormy weather enters another lone boat. A woman dressed in a red jumpsuit brushes her hair back, tying it up into a ponytail. After adjusting her mask and the two short katanas on her back and waist, she makes a faint smile and stares up at the pirate ship with a scowl. 'I've found you, pirate.'

_End Chapter_


	8. Pirate Battle Conclusion

**A Love Forged By Souls and Swords **

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda or Soul Calibur.

Kenshin: This chapter is also a redux. If you hadn't noticed, redux is the term we use for a redone chapter.

**_Chapter 8: Pirate Battle Conclusion!  
_**

"Give up. This fight is over." Link states, standing above his fallen foe. Looking to the side he sees Cassandra still standing against her opponent, though a bit more tired and worn than he expected. 'Even though she's fighting her fear Cassie's not doing so well against him. I better switch enemies with her.'

"Heh, you really think it's over? That you could get rid of me like that?" The pirate soon rises to his feet, gripping the handle of his saber with both hands.

As he stares at him, he asks, "How is it that you survived all those strikes?" A part of him can't understand how he's still able to fight despite the damage he's dealt him. His distraction towards this thought is only ignored for a second when a bunch of arms grab hold of him, pulling the man towards the main mass.

He turns around and is surprised to see that they're the same pirates who he took out before. "Wait didn't I kill you guys?"

"We're immortal. Your pathetic strikes will only keep us down for so long." Astound by this information, Link doesn't take long however to wonder how they gained such power. Cervantes makes a bellowing laugh.

"That's right; I was the one who gave them their powers." The dreaded pirate laughs out even harder, angering the Hylian. Cassandra becomes even more angered as well.

"How did you do that?" She points her sword at him as she asks this question.

"Their power derives from Soul Edge, the greatest killing machine in the world. With it I was able to enslave the spirits of my slaughtered crew and force them to do my bidding." Cervantes explains, pointing both weapons at her, slowly lowering them to the side. "And now I shall deal with the two of you. You will both suffer for eternity as my tools!" He makes an upward slash with his smaller right sword, aiming to cut her in a straight line. Seeing this Cassandra jumps back, and then rushes forward with her shield, bashing it into his gut.

"Who do you think you're taking away?" yells the woman before flipping backwards, kicking his chin in the process. But he recovers quickly from it and jabs the butt of his foot into her spine. She gets sent flying upside down into a barrel, smashing it to pieces.

Link is still being held back by the pirates, overwhelmed by four people keeping him in check. 'Shit! I gotta save her! But with my left arm held by them I can't even cut their arms off. I just need some elbow room!'

Cassandra rises up from the wooden rubble, her hair ruined and clothes tattered and beaten. She spits out blood onto the deck, wiping her mouth with her right hand afterwards. "Bastard! I won't die here! I can't die yet!"

She rushes at him again, throwing her shield as a distraction. It whizzes over to him.

'Link. I have to win...' She thinks, as Cervantes drops Soul Edge to grab the 'frisbee' shield. He then grips it tight, bending it into a weird shape with his bare hands.

'For you...if you have to take over for me...' She uses this distraction he was going through to thrust her sword into his chest cavity.

'...how can I ever know if I really love you...for you and not the protection you give me?' She almost makes contact, but at the last second he blocks it with his gun-sword.

The result is completely unexpected; Cassandra's sword shatters to pieces the moment it strikes Cervantes' weapon. But she isn't the only one to suffer from the attack for his tool cracks into tiny little shards as well. The attack leaves both of them speechless, for a while.

"No! Sister's weapon!" Cassandra falls to her knees to pick up the remaining shards of the old blade. Looking at the hilt of his own broken weapon Cervantes looks pretty amazed as well as angry.

"Well what do you know? You broke it." He kicks her straight in the face, sending her flying back in a loop. Landing on the wooden floor she slides to the wooden railing, coughing up blood as she makes impact. He continues to chuckle as he grips Soul Edge with his right hand and steps towards her. "It's extremely lucky for me that your weapon was too old to withstand the impact, or I might have been killed. Too bad!"

'No. Damn it! I was so close!' She cries in her thoughts, trying as hard as she could to rise to her feet. Looking up she sees Cervantes standing before her ready to deliver the final blow.

"I wonder how much tortured you'll be as part of my army of the damned...Let's see!" He hoists his blade into the air, pointing it downwards at her. Lightning strikes the sea violently, as its light gleams off the bodies of both fighters. As she freezes in place, Link has a much paler expression on his face, and struggles to get free.

'Shit! It's no use! Why can't I get free?' He ponders, still trying to break free. Just as his anger rises, a triangle on the back of his left hand appears, though it isn't bright enough for them to see.

'This isn't how it will end! IT'S NOT!' He somehow manages to get his left arm free from the grip of the undead pirates, and makes a diagonal slashing motion at Cervantes. But strangely enough, when he makes that slice a bright blue light forms on the edge of the blade, and gets released upon swing. It travels towards the pirate in the form of a light blue shockwave slicing up whatever was under it's path. Cervantes looks to his right and sees the attack coming for him.

"What the?" Cervantes jumps backwards from the attack, dodging in time to avoid getting torn apart. It continues to travel, going off into the distance until it dies out of sight. Cassandra finally comes out of her daze, and sees that she's still alive.

'Wha-what happened?' She thinks, looking around to see Link walking towards them on her side of the split-in-half ship. He bows down to her with his right hand out to her.

"Cassandra, are you all right?" Link asks, hoping to reach her. His words do a bit more than that, for she leaps up and hugs him tight. At first he starts blushing at the sudden contact, but becomes overwhelmed with grief as she starts to look at him; that's when he sees her saddened face. "Cassandra?"

"Am I a burden to you?" asks the woman in a low voice. Looking at him she lowers her eyes in a different direction, to not look at the Hylian. "I'm sorry. I couldn't do anything. I tried so hard, and I still lost."

"Is that why you've been fighting recklessly?" asks Link of the woman, who gives a nod.

"What was that? Men! Kill this sorry-" The Dread Pirate halts in his tracks when he notices his crew members have been torn literally into pieces. Whatever that attack was it must have done them in.

"You're not a burden; you are you. I could care less if you lost all your arms and legs and was struck blind, death and dumb; I will always be there for you," Link says, hoping this would cheer her up. The Greek looks up at him, digging her head back into his chest again in sadness. The two have become so deep in thought with one another they don't notice Cervantes raising his sword up.

"It's just, I-" Link interrupts her by wrapping his arms around her and leaping away from the pirate's strike. Pulling his sword out as they land, he watches Cervantes chuckling slightly.

"What a heart-warming speech you made. If only you had finished it I would have cried." Cervantes raises Soul Edge over his shoulder. Link grits his teeth in anger, and then lets Cassandra slowly slide onto the floor and her knees. "I don't know how you performed that attack, but it seems that that well of energy has dried up. You barely dodged that attack, and you're too beat from fighting those fools to finish me. And besides, look..." He then points to the other ship the two came from, and they notice that flames have erupted from it. No sooner then that does it explode into flames.

Paling as they see this, Link and Cassandra run to the side to get a good look at what used to be the ship. "Maxi! Kilik! Xianghua!" Both of them yell out, their left hands stretching out without conscious thought.

"It would seem my crew went a little overboard. Doesn't matter..." The pirate then leaps over the gap before him and those two, standing before them.

"They aren't dead. They can't be!" Link yells, turning his head around to Cervantes the instant he finishes the first sentence. The pirate makes another one of his bellowing laughs, stabbing Soul Edge into the wood.

"Believe what you will, but the facts remain. Like this one..." He grips it with both arms and raises it above his head. "YOU'RE DEAD!" He slams the dark sword down, but Link dodges in time and lands a spin kick to his chest. It's enough to send him back a bit, but only across the gap. Link soon leaps over it and dashes at him, his Master Sword held in his left hand ready to thrust.

"Illusion Stab Assault!" He rapidly jabs his sword at Cervantes, having each strike go for atleast one major part of his body. Of course because Link is still blinded by rage the pirate can easily block the major aiming points and let the other spots he strikes heal. Link continues his assault, this time having some strikes nick his hair and cheek.

"Enough of this!" Cervantes moves his sword to his right, knocking Link's arm down that way. Here he has no chance to continue his stabs or recover in time to block. 'He's too close to dodge!' Cervantes then adjusts his sword to point at Link's face, before he thrusts forward.

"Spin Attack!" Link shouts, shifting his right foot closer under his body and his left foot making a spinning turn. This allows him to spin his entire body, swinging his sword around to block Soul Edge. But it doesn't end there; he continues spinning, making multiple slashes to Cervantes' body. One successfully makes a large scar across his chest. As blood spurts out the wound, the pirate pulls himself back before he falls onto one knee.

"Damn you! Ganondorf never mentioned you were unpredictable." At the mention of his name Link only becomes more angry, as the symbol on his left hand glows brighter. But as he grows madder, his breathing became more shallow and heavy, almost as if he was out of breath. 'Why am I so damn tired? Must have been that attack. How did I do that in the first place?' thinks the Hylian, hoping he can win this fight with what little energy he has left.

The pirate grips his sword with both hands, and it suddenly ignites on fire. He then slashes diagonally at Link, who blocks with the combined force of his shield and sword. The two steel weapons couldn't stop the impact though, and Link is sent flying through the wooden railing and off the ship. He crashes into the sea, making a semi-big splash.

Seconds later he rises from the water, spitting up a fountain. 'Damn. I wasted too much energy fighting those other guys. I'm gonna need help on-' He pauses from his thoughts to look at a boat docked next to the ship he just fell from. 'More trouble?' He figures, swimming back aboard.

"Would you like to join your friends?" The pirate speaks to Cassandra, walking slowly to her. She pales slightly, backing up a bit to try and escape him, until she notices something red behind him. "Don't worry. I'll make it quick an-" Cervantes pauses from his speech, before he turns around. The minute he faces behind him he is instantly kicked in the face and knocked onto the poop deck. Taking a good look around he doesn't see anyone around, until he looks at Cassandra. There he sees a woman wearing a tight, red jumpsuit on her body, and becomes increasingly enraged.

"Are you okay?" The red woman asks Cassandra. She comes out of her stupor and shook her head up and down, signalling yes. "Good. You know, you look kinda familiar...Have we met?"

"You! You're that bitch who was with the Greek woman back then!" Cervantes yells, rising back onto his feet. Looking down at his chest he notices the large wound wasn't healing. "What trickery is this?"

"That's right; I found you, and I'm ready to finish what I started!" The woman yells back before drawing both her ninjatou. But when she looks at Cassandra her mouth goes wide open. "NOW I REMEMBER YOU! You were that other girl who was with Sophitia. You look just like her..." She then stops to really look at her. "...Except you got short hair and you look less scared than she did when she faced him."

"You, it really is you. What are you doing here?" Cassandra asks the still unnamed woman, still unclear on what's going on. That's when Cervantes charges forward.

"I don't know how you found me but I will see to your funeral!" shouts the pirate, running at the red woman with all his speed. But just as she's about to make a counter, someone leaps onto his back. Turning his head up he spots Link sitting onto his shoulders. "Hey! Get off me!"

"No can do!" Link proceeds to 'spanking' Cervantes with his sword, well the flap part. He then flips himself down, grabbing the pirate's collar as he went down and tosses him into the gap. Getting back to his feet Link turns to the woman with Cassandra. "So you helped Cassie's sister a few years ago right?"

'Cassie?' "That's right. And who the hell are you?" She asked, looking at him with a guarded look. The woman is especially prepared around him because of his long ears. Cassandra places her hands on the woman's shoulder. "What? You know him?"

"He's Link. He's been helping me out this entire time since I went after Soul Edge." She explains, hoping she can get her to trust him. The woman notices a certain look in her eyes when she looks at Link, before she turns to face the Hyrulean.

"I have a question for you-" She stops talking when Cervantes climbs out from the gap of the ship he fell into. "I forgot how much of a tough bastard he is."

"You scurvy bastards! None of you can compare to the anger I'm feeling at this moment!" He then pulls himself up from the gap, noticing his ship is starting to sink. "My ship is ruined because of you...and I rather liked it! Not only that, but I've lost Nirvana and a part of my crew! But this is good; after all, everyone I want dead has gathered on this ship!"

"Oh yeah that's right! I increasingly hate you for killing my friends!" Link remembers his rage for the pirate, and prepares to attack him. The red woman stands in the way, spinning her swords in her hands. "Hey, this is my fight!"

"Don't bother. He's my problem way more than he is yours," says the woman as she rushes into battle. Link's about to say something back, but she's already fighting at this point.

The red lady spins in the air and lands a left axe kick to his skull, sending him down bowing. She then places her hands onto the floor and twists her body to spin her feet again, landing two more kicks to the side of his face. This makes him cough blood and fall down to his knee, gripping his chest in pain. 'The whole plan's ruined! I've already wasted enough energy luring them to me, and that sword somehow made a strike that cannot be healed! That wretched Ganondorf could have mentioned a holy weapon in his possession! No matter, I should be able to handle this!'

"He seems tired now. Still, better weaken him," she says, forming multiple hand seals. Each one done with such precision and speed, almost perfect, it's hard for Cassandra to keep up with her eyes. Cervantes stands up from his pain and mounds an assault on the woman, who has finished her seals.

"Dai Tastumaki no Jutsu!" yells the woman, spreading her arms out as she speaks. After that she claps her hands together, and a fierce wind blows around her. This same wind captures Cervantes and takes him for a ride, spinning him rapidly in the air like he was in some hurricane. He crashes onto the deck of the ship, back where he was before getting blown up. Multiple brooks of blood stream down his body, especially his face, seeping through the tiny cuts that attack made.

"Time for the seal." The woman erects herself up on both legs. She then goes to doing those hand signs again, leaving Link to look at her with a bit of some understanding.

"Makai Fuin no Jutsu!" she yells, and wind begins to blow around her. This wind is enough to force the others to back away, while Cervantes looks around and comes to a realization.

"You intend to end me the same as last time!" The undead pirate throws Soul Edge at her, knowing full well it will impale her chest since she's too busy with her technique. Seeing as she can't move from her position, Link takes action; he throws his sword to block Soul Edge from sinking into her flesh. "Annoying bugs should just sit back and stay away!"

"Arigatou! Sai!" She holds her hands forward, and a stream of energy blasts out from the palm of her hands. It surrounds Cervantes, causing him to scream in pain. As Link and Cassandra watch the event unfold, it looks as if a spirit exits his body and returns inside of him, almost like it's trying not to. Soon the energy releasing from her ceases and she collapses to her knees. Cervantes falls to the ground too. His body begins to shrivel up, almost aging instantly, his hair turns greyish white and his eyes gain black pupils. "It is done." She breathes heavily from her move.

"I thought you were gonna kill him!" Link yells as Cassandra runs to help up the woman. Realizing what happened to him, Cervantes dashes for Soul Edge next to Link's, as the elf did the same action. They both grab their swords, and then swing upward at the same time.

"He's mortal," she plainly speaks in a low voice, as the swords cross one another in an X, before slashing back upwards. Both blades come up with blood dripping down from their tips, and looking at one another they realize that the two wounded eachother. Link's wound isn't as serious, just a cleaved left shoulder, in comparison to Cervantes' wound, which has one coming straight up his chest at the left side. As blood rain from both wounds, Link grips his shoulder in pain, falling down on his knees as Cervantes crashes backwards, plopping onto the ground with a thud.

"Damn-(Cough) you!" The dying pirate speaks, breathing heavily as he feels the life leak out of him. Link sheaths his sword behind him as more blood squirts from his wound.

Suddenly, all of Cervantes' crew crawl up from the side of the ship, out from hiding places and even within the cabins. All of them gather around Link and Cassandra, and the nameless woman like hotcakes. "More pirates? I'm beginning to get sick of pirates now!"

But just as strangely, they all turn to dust; their bodies break down and disperse into smoke one by one. As that wasn't enough, soon Cervantes begins to turn to dust, starting from the bottom up. Link uses what little strength he has left to jump onto him and grab his collar. "You're not dying until I get information! Where's Ganondorf?"

"Heh. You're that desperate to die? If you wish, he's waiting for you within another dimension, and the only entrance is within Athens...That's all you're getting from me." He finishes with a smirk planted on his face as the rest of his body evaporates into dust.

"Hey! Get back here! I'm not done with you! Where is Athens?" Link yells, gripping the sandy remains of his pirate enemy. 'Now how can I find him? I don't know where Athens-'

"He means my home land. Athens resides within Greece, which is just east of where we are now," Cassandra says, guessing where east is at the moment. Suddenly the ship starts to rock, succumbing to the sea and sinking. "Let's talk later. Escape now!"

Ten Minutes Later...

"My name is Taki; I'm a ninja of the Fu-ma clan," says the woman in red, looking at the two other sword users as Cassandra continues fixing Link's wounds.

"Ninja huh? That makes a bit more sense. Does that mean you went after Cervantes in the first place to do a mission you were ordered to do?" Cassandra asks, finishing up with what she was doing with Link.

"...Wrong." She begins, turning away from the others. "This here is Mekki-Maru, and here is Rekki-Maru." She places her hands on her weapons, pausing to signal which is which, her left being the first mentioned. "Mekki-Maru was stolen from the clan years ago, by Hachibei a traitor...I went against him and stole the weapon back, without telling my master. In the end, my clan found out and I became a fugitive, a nukenin.

"Later I discovered it was possessed by Soul Edge fragments, and resolved to destroy it by pitting it against Soul Edge itself. This brought me to fighting against Cervantes, although it seems my plan didn't work. Afterwards I found that my master had more fragments of Soul Edge, and so I went after him to kill him, but after I won, an evil spirit named Gel-O-Fury rose from him to capture Soul Edge.

"And so it led me here, to destroy the evil weapon and the revived pirate, where I coincidentally met you two." As she finishes her story, she turns around to see that Cassandra has fallen asleep. At this she fumes out of rage, but notices Link is still wide awake; he has been listening to everything she said. "Did you hear everything I said?"

"Of course; she's just not good with the sea so she fell asleep," Link says, looking down at the beautiful Cassandra. The Greek woman soon opens her eyes again. "See? She's wide awake."

"Huh? I'm sorry, I past out. I'm still not use to the sea," says the young woman, feeling a bit weary now that she has time to rest.

"It's strange you never puked when we were fighting Cervantes...which reminds me, I think we should pay our respects to the guys." Link soon remembers Xianghua, Maxi and Kilik, and how they died for their tasks. Cassandra lowers her eyes in understanding and depression; together the two turn to where they just left, their hands clasped tight together with their heads bowed and eyes closed. Like this they pray for the three friends they made.

"I'm sorry your friends got killed, but you shouldn't let their deaths get in the way of your goals. We still have one more thing to deal with," Taki speaks, holding Soul Edge in her arms. After the two finish praying, they look at her.

"What? But we procured Soul Edge. All you and Cassandra need to do to finish your mission is to destroy it. I have to find Ganondorf and kill him by myself." Link states, not really understanding what she's talking about. Cassandra looks to Link with worry, still upset over his obsession with revenge.

"That's not completely true...the truth is, this is just a collection of fragments merged together to become a Soul Edge weapon." Taki explains, causing the others to grow wide-eyed. "The base weapon, the true Soul Edge, is still out there somewhere. As long as that sword is still in one piece the fragments will continued to emit its evil energy."

"So you're going to help us out because you believe Ganondorf might have the other weapon right?" Link asks, somehow coming to this conclusion, figuring a ninja would never help out common warriors like them. She shakes her head yes, and no.

"Yes and no. After realizing how that pirate knows about this Ganondorf character, I suspect that he might know something about its whereabouts... Plus, I need money..." Taki says, dropping her head at the last line. Cassandra does as well.

"No kidding. We're broke too."

"You know, now that it's come to this, I think I might have something we can use." At this both woman looks at Link, who pulls something out of his pack. It's a silver gem shaped like a long hexagon. It glows rainbow like in the now appearing sun. Cassandra stares at him with pissed off eyes.

"How long have you had that damn thing?~!" She screeches in an asking tone. This causes Link to shrink down to a smaller size.

"Yeah, ever since I met you. I used my other gems to purchase those shoes you're wearing, and completely forgot about this one and used gold instead because I'm having a hard time understanding your world's currency..." Link says in an apologetic voice. That's when Cassandra smashes her head into his skull.

"YOU MEAN WE WENT THROUGH ALL THIS JUST BECAUSE YOU FORGO-You bought me these shoes with such a valuable item, knowing how much it costs in this world?" Her screeching beginning quickly turns sweet and soft when she realizes that he bought her those same shoes with something that could buy her thousands of them. He makes a nod, bracing for impact knowing how strong women get when they're mad. But instead of a punch she hugs him, squeezing him with a generous grip. "That's so sweet of you to do..."

'To be honest I didn't know they were so valued here. This one's only worth 200 back home.' Link thinks, wrapping his arms around her to hug back. Both of them begin to blush a bit while Taki stares at them.

'It's like watching kabuki.' These are Taki's thoughts, quickly realizing the two like eachother a lot. Looking at the two she comes up with an idea, smiling evilly. "Oh my, do you really prefer to be with such an ugly girl?"

"UGLY?" Cassandra yells, releasing her grip from Link to glare at the ninja. "You better watch your mouth!"

Taki smirks. "It's obvious Link only hangs around you because he takes pity on you. After all why go with an appetizer when he can have the main course?" The ninja poses professionally to show herself. Cassandra only grows even more enraged, about to rip her apart piece by piece.

"I'm gonna kill you if you don't shut up!" yells Cassandra, her anger regenerated from before. Link holds his hands onto her shoulders in an attempt to stop them.

"Now now ladies, we really shouldn't be fighting eachother. After all-"

"SHUT UP! THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND HER!" Cassandra yells, causing him to sweat rapidly and fall back into a corner.

'This should quench my boredom...' Taki thinks, wondering what will be in store for them next.

Elsewhere...

"I can't believe we survived that explosion." Xianghua states in shock, sitting on a raft next to her two friends. Kilik places a wet rag onto Maxi's forehead, who is unconscious. It seems he has suffered a blow to the head, as there's blood leaking out from the side. "I feel bad for Link and Cassandra, dying before admitting their feelings for one another..."

"We don't know if they're dead. They could just be drifting into the sea like us...and even if they were dead, I doubt death would keep her from loving that Hylian," Kilik retorts, turning around to see where they are. "Right now we have to worry about ourselves..." Xianghua pulls out a compass and map, looking to see where they are. "Where did you get that?"

"I stole it from the captain. But that's not important now...right now we have to continue this journey, and hope to Buddha that Link and Heitan-chan survived at sea." After she says this, both her and Kilik grab a plank and paddle for land, hoping everything will be okay for them in the end.

_End Chapter..._

Arigatou: Thank you  
Sai: Release  
Dai Tatsumaki no Jutsu: Great Tornado Technique. The no is a japanese word used to describe possession.  
Makai Fuin no Jutsu: Hell Sealing Technique  
Heitan: flat.


	9. Athens, Greece

**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda or Soul Calibur.

Kenshin: This chapter is a redux.

_**Chapter 9: Athens, Greece**_

* * *

"1 month..." complains Cassandra as she drags her feet across the mud-soaked road. She, Taki and Link have been traveling across said plain through Greece ever since they left sea. Eventually the Greek warrior falls to her knees, the fatigue falling over her. "We've been traveling for an entire month, and we still haven't reach home! I'm going to cry if I don't rest my feet!"

"Uruse na!(Shut up, will ya! in Japanese) What are you complaining about, Kathandra?" Taki asks in a rude tone of speech. The Greek rises to her feet to stare evilly at the ninja.

"CASSANDRA! Why would I have such a retarded sounding name?~!" she screams back, still irritated over walking such a distance and wasting allot of energy on the way over. Link stands in between the two, immediately breaking up a fight that never started.

"Now now, we shouldn't be fighting so much, that we shouldn't. We're almost there anyway." His attempt to get them to calm down by informing them onto how close they are seems to be a success; Cassandra soon comes to her senses, as does Taki.

"That's what you said in Istanbul! Are we really that close?" Taki asks, knowing how groundless his statements can be.

"Actually he's right: We are close." Cassandra intervenes, as the other two look at her. "We're in Voiotia, which is extremely close to it. I know because I use to come here."

"You use to live on a dirt road?" Taki asks, causing her to grit her teeth and stare at the ninja. "And how do you know this is Voiotia?"

"That sign over there could be a clue," Link says, pointing to his left at a sign sticking out of the grass. And like he said, on it are the words 'Now leaving Voiotia.' "Of course we could be heading somewhere else entirely. Cassandra, it's up to you to lead us onto the right path."

"Y-yes Link. I'll do my best," She says as a shade of red appears on her face. As they carry on, Taki look at Link and Cassy, seeing the two occasionally glancing looks at the other then turning away ever so quickly.

'Kudaranai.(Pointless) These two will never admit their feelings for another at this rate...' She thinks, looking at the two fools in love. Coming up with an idea she creeps up to Link, and pinches his butt with her right hand. As he leaps up from the sudden contact, he turns around to see Taki more closer to Cassandra than she was to him, and got suspicious. Of course the Greek isn't falling for it.

"I'm watching you, and if you think-" She's silenced when the ninja shoves a pine cone in her mouth.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Taki retorts. With narrowed eyes Katha-I mean, Cassandra takes the pine cone out her mouth, spitting up any and all saliva that touched it.

'If this girl tries to take Link away from me I'll kill her...wait, why am I so jealous?' She then ponders it over, thinking if jealousy was another thing one feels.

Athens...

"Yahoo! We made it!" Link yells, walking through the streets of Athens alongside Cassandra and Taki. The ninja looks around in nostalgia, as Cassandra just feels contempt with being home again. "This place looks so amazing!"

"It's getting dark, so we should head for my place. Follow me," Cassandra says as the three continue to travel through the marketplace. In the heat of the moment, Link somehow separates from the others, too into watching the stands and such around him to notice his mistake. It's not until five minutes later that the two girls realizes he's missing. "Oh no, we have a missing Link!"

"Don't worry about him. We can catch up with him later." Taki states, pulling her out from the heat of the crowds. "I'll come back for him once we reach your house."

"But the sun's setting and everyone's getting ready to leave..." She really didn't want to leave him alone in this jungle of undecided buyers, but knowing him he would be alright. "Okay, but you better be right." And so they leave, heading off to find her home.

It doesn't take long for them to reach a rather plain bakery shop, with the words 'Alexandra' in big blue and green letters on the top. "I remember this place. We're at your home right?"

"No, this is just the bakery. The house is behind it. Now we just go inside and see if Rothion is there," Cassy speaks, walking up to the shop. Gripping the knob tight she pushes it open, as the two of them walk inside. As they enter in, they catch a glimpse of someone behind the stand.

"Welcome to-" The man speaking freezes when he sees who it is. First he takes a look at Taki, finding her somewhat familiar, then gasps when Cassandra comes into view. "Cassandra!"

"Rothion!" Cassandra shouts as he came from behind the stand to hug the girl. "I'm back, my brother."

"It's good to have you back. Sophitia was worried sick about you each day." The guy speaks back, then focuses his vision onto the buxom ninja before him. "And who is she?"

"Oh yeah, she's Taki. She knows Sophitia personally...speaking of which, where is she?" Cassie then looks around for her, only to see zip. "I was hoping to see my sister first. I have...a few things to ask her."

"Oh, well she and the kids went out into the market. She's been feeling a lot better now, almost as if she was healed of her pain. It's been a month and she's been like this." Rothion explains, letting go of her to man the stand. "Why, what did you need to ask her?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up...she got better?" she asks, feeling a little suspicious over hearing this so suddenly. "She was in terrible condition before I left, which was 4 months ago, and you're saying she got better? How did that happen?"

"It must be connected to Cervantes. After all she was only suffering because of him." Taki figures, narrowing her eyes as she tries to explain the situation as part of her opinion. "But let's just wait for her here. She'll be back right."

"Uh, of course." Rothion didn't really understand where they were going. Taki and Cassandra each take a seat, as Rothion pass out some pastries. "But it's good that you've returned. Sophitia was gonna have a heart-attack if something were to happen to you."

"So, you two are kyoudai, right?" Taki asks, taking a bite out of her danish. Both of them look at her with confused eyes, and it isn't until she notices their stares that she explains. "It means siblings. You two are siblings right?"

"Uh, not entirely. I married Sophitia only 5 years ago. Their only brother is Lucius, who is somewhere in France right now." He explains, and soon he begins to tell of how Sophitia and him met, patiently waiting for his wife to return soon.

Back At The Market...

"Damn it. Those guys got lost." Link complains, finally noticing his two friends have all but left him. He continues walking around, looking for the two women through the crowd of people who give several glances at him. "They must already know their way around here, which puts me in a bad position. Without knowledge of the whereabouts of Cassandra's home I'm practically stuck in space."

"Hey mister," a tiny fragile voice speaks. Link looks below him to see two small kids tugging on the skirt of his tunic. Of course he would never call it a skirt, but it still looks like one. One of the kids is a girl, while the other is a boy. "Mister, why do you have pointy ears?"

"Uh, well let's just say I don't live around here," Link says, smiling and bending his knees to go down to their level. "What's your name?"

"We're not aloud to reveal our names to strangers," the girl says, as Link couldn't help but smile at their words.

"Okay, well can you tell me where your parents are?" Link asks, thinking it would be only right to put them in the care of their mother and father.

"Oh, father is working at the bakery. Mother is-"

"Patroklos, Pyrrah! There you are!" A feminine voice shouts. The moment Link hears this voice he looks up, and his eyes see what looks to be Cassandra running towards the kids. "There you are, I've been looking all over for you two."

"Cassandra? You know these two?" Link asks, as all three of them bring their heads up to look at him. But then Link narrows his eyes to look closer at her. "Wait...oh I'm sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine."

"How do you know that name?" she asks, wondering who in the world this person is. "It's the name that belongs to my sister."

"Sister? Then you must be Sophitia." Link figures. He heard from Cassie that she had a sister, but they're almost twins up front. Except, this woman seems much older and her hair is significantly longer than Cassandra's. There's also something about the woman's appearance that reminds him so much of Zelda.

"That's right. So does this mean that Cassandra is here in Athens?" Sophitia asks, looking around for said lady. Link nods in response before standing up.

"She probably went home. Would you be so kind as to take me there?" Link asks nicely, as the Greek woman bows her head yes. "I got lost."

"Mother, does that mean Aunt Cassie has returned?" Patroklos asks, as both him and Pyrrha looked up at their mom. She smiles at them.

"I hope you're right. I've been hoping she could stop fighting the way I did," Sophitia says in a low voice. And on they walk, heading for the bakery where Cassandra and Taki are waiting.

Elsewhere...

"I'll ask you again, why didn't you go aid Cervantes? The two of you together could have-"

"I don't have the liberty to tell you anything, enigma." A dark figure cloaked in shadows interrupts someone in a white cloak. Both were standing inside what looks to be a castle, old and torn from standing there for ages. "All you have to do is make sure they don't destroy the shards taken from the pirate. Now go do your job."

"...as you wish." The figure says, as he takes down his white hood. Revealed is the face of an African, with a golden eye on the left. "I still don't understand why you want this 'Link' to come to you, but as long as I get what I want in the end I couldn't care less."

"Just complete the plan and find Soul Calibur. His shadow and Calcus have failed with their success." The man then disappears, leaving his sight for the moment. The taller one comes out of the shadows, revealing himself to be Ganondorf. But just as strangely, an eye opens up in the middle of his forehead, as his face soon changes to that of a woman's. 'Soon Link. Soon we'll be together, and I will fill this world with our love.'

Back In Athens...

"Wow, who knew your sister was such an amazing person," Taki says, drinking a cup of tea that she received. "Of course I felt that when I saved her. Such a better person than her little sister."

"Oi!" Cassandra yells back, throwing a death glare at the red ninja. "Are you calling her better than me?"

"No. I'm calling her smarter than you." Taki states plainly, forcing the Grecian to grow enraged. Rothion's just sitting far away from them, the fear of getting hurt sweeping over him.

"If you don't stop-"

"Rothion, I have returned!" A womanly voice announces, as each of them turn to the door. There they see Cassandra's sister Sophitia coming in, with two kids beside her as well as Link. "I've also brought a friend."

"Sis? Link? What are you two doing together!" Cassie asks, totally surprised to see them with one another.

"She even knows how to charm men." Taki adds, sipping more tea. That's the last straw; Cassandra blows fumes out from her nose and then tackles Taki. Of course the only thing she hit is a chair, and sees the ninja sitting in her spot. "Substitution."

"Damn it!" Cassandra curses, rising back up to her feet for another challenge.

"Cassandra I don't think now's the time." Link states, scratching his head as he watches their fighting. Turning around she's just about to yell at him, but one look at him just makes her go silent. Finding herself with no way of talking back to him this time, she quietly sat down in the only available chair.

"Maybe so..." she finally makes out, looking to the side away from Link for the moment.

Sophitia takes a quick glance at Cassandra, noticing she has a bit of red on her face when she looked at Link. Upon turning back to Link she notices something she didn't before. "Link, can I ask of something?"

"What?" Link asks, turning to the older Alexandra sister. Cassandra sort of paled, frightened over the thought of her sister asking Link how he was able to calm her down.

"Why are your ears pointed?" she asks him. Her question also causes Rothion to notice his ears.

"Well, let's just say I'm not from around this place," he replies, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Can I touch them?" At this Link almost trips. Taki, Cassandra and Rothion fall immediately.

"Sister, that's just stupid..." Cassandra murmurs, rising up from the ground to walk over to her. She then thinks back to when she first met Link, and whispers, "Although I did want to touch them too." Pulling Link aside she stands before Sophitia, looking over her face. "...are you really feeling better?"

"Cassandra, I'm fine now. Last month the old wounds stopped causing me pain, and I was able to regain my strength back. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that would you?" she asks her little sibling, as Link sits in her seat.

"Actually, we might have. About the same time over we killed Cervantes." Cassy confesses, as Sophitia gasps along with Rothion.

"You...killed him? You don't have any wounds from his sword, do you?" she asks, looking around her body for anything out of order.

"No, but Link might. He and Taki over there finished him off." Sophitia then looks over to the crimson ninja, and a smile grows on her face.

"It's you. How have you been, Taki?" asks the beautiful mother of her old friend as she rises to her feet.

Taki smiles before her face returns to being serious. "I've been better. But anyway, we have to ask you of something, in private."

In Private...

Link, Cassandra, Sophitia, and Taki walk out back to the shed before they sit down in a circle inside. Sophitia speaks first. "What is it you wanted?"

"We took this from the pirate Cervantes, and we need you to hide it for us." Taki pulls out the tall item wrapped up behind her, then unravels it to reveal Soul Edge, well the one Cervantes had. At the sight of it Sophitia backs away in horror, keeping herself away from the evil weapon. Just the sight of it gives her horrible memories.

"Why do you have that? Destroy it!" Sophitia shouts out loud with a little fear in her voice. Pulling it away Taki lays it on the ground.

"Don't worry. None of us will be able to bring out its evil aura long as it's wrapped up in my seals." She then proceeds to wrapping the sword up, as Sophitia breathed a sigh of relief.

"We came back because we were informed that the rest of Soul Edge would be somewhere in Athens. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, right?" Cassandra asks, adjusting where she is sitting to get more comfortable. Her sister shakes her head sideways, signaling a no. "Oh, guess we have to look even harder."

"So Cassie tell me, when did you meet such a fellow, and why he has such cute ears?" She asks, crossing her right leg over the left and finding herself calming down about Soul Edge nearby. Blushing, Cassie turns her head over to Link, who is doing the same as her but looking away.

"Well, we met one day near China, and I decided to follow him. The two of us then found ourselves in a little bit deep in finding Soul Edge, as three of our friends were killed in the middle of a fight against Cervantes. After that terrible chapter we came here to look for a place Soul Edge could be hiding. The problem is, I broke your sword." Cassandra then holds out the shattered weapon from earlier, revealing its horrible condition. Sophitia picks it up, and stares narrowly at it. "I'm sorry."

"You do not wish to apologize. The fact that you wanted to is enough for me. After all it's just a sword." Sophitia speaks, causing Cassandra to pick her head up to look at her. "And while it cannot be repaired, you are more important to me than some tool." At the end Cassie feels a bit better in what happened, no longer plagued by grief. "I'm actually surprised it lasted as long as it did."

"Thank you, sis," she says, and the two sisters smile at one another. At this moment Link yawns. "Link, are you tired?"

"Just a little, but continue." Link states, hoping she wouldn't stop with her request because of him.

"Link, if you're weary don't be so humble. Even a Hylian like you needs rest," Cassandra replies, knowing how much he always thinks of others. Finding that he can't easily fool her he rises up with a dreary sigh.

"Fine. I'm gonna go lie down." Link says, walking off to the house nearby. She then gets up and walks towards him, holding his left arm with hers.

"I'll show you to an empty room." Cassy says, walking with Link to the house. Her left arm entangles around his right as they leave. Taki presses onto her temples with her left hand while Sophitia blinks questionably.

"I have an honest question to ask; are those two together?" Sophitia asks Taki, still watching them leave.

"No. I can see they hold strong feelings for eachother, maybe love. But they won't let the other know; I can tell Cassandra's probably never felt love before and is confused, but it seems different for Link. It's like he's trying to avoid revealing his affections," Taki says, then begins to wonder what's holding him back. Sophitia takes a moment to think over what could be with him, then comes up with an idea. Standing up she walks inside to see him.

With Link and Cassandra...

"There you go Link. You should sleep now, it's kinda late," Cassandra says, showing her the room he would be sleeping in. It's like any normal Greek bedroom, just too unexplainable for a modern day person like the author.

"Wow! This is just like my old room, except there are no skull spiders or man-eating plants outside. Thanks Cassie." Link removes his items and places them on the side of the bed, before starting to lift his tunic over his head. Cassandra almost explodes with the amount of blood rushing to her head. Before she could pass out she sees him removing his pants, and turns her head around while pushing him inside. "Ow! What did I do?"

"Close the door next time you change! Don't take your clothes off while I'm right here!" she yells, acting without thinking again. She then slams the door shut, pressing her back against it while breathing hard. 'Oh that was close, I almost fainted. He really does have a nice chest, and that butt was so...' She wipes her face of the blood coming out of her nose, then notices her sister standing by to her right. "How long were you there?"

"Long enough to see you get a nose bleed," she replies, smiling at her younger sister. Blushing Cassandra turns her head away, keeping herself from being caught. Sophitia walks closer to her, then pushes the younger sister into her and Rothion's bedroom. "Look, I know you love him, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, sis. You don't-" Cassandra tries to reason, but Sophitia places her right hand onto her shoulder, grasping the younger girl's attention.

"You can't fool your sister, I can see it in your eyes. The look in your eyes are the same as the ones I had when I look at Rothion," she says, looking into her valorous little sister's emerald eyes. "Tell me now, do you love him?"

Cassandra stares her sister straight in the eyes, trying her best to put up a front. But she couldn't; her eyes begin to grow watery and wavy. Soon her window blinds closes over the windows to her soul, as they open up wide to let raining tears of sadness flowing down like a storm. "It's true...I think I do love him. I've never felt this feeling before: Ever since I met him I've felt this stinging pain in my heart that didn't hurt.

"Soon during our travels, I've begun to notice how strong that feeling has grown, but I didn't know that was love. He comforted me, protected me, even let's me hurt him to dispel my frustration. I've completely grown attached to him, and he seems to not even notice me. I'm afraid he's more focused on avenging his fallen wife than helping me directly." The sincerity in her confesses continues to call down more tears, even as she wipes them away. Sophitia could almost feel her heart break hearing this.

"I think I have a way of helping with your situation; you love him, but you're afraid he won't love you back. The only solution to this is to tell him how much you feel, and hopefully he'll accept you and love you." Sophitia tells her, making Cassie shake her head no in reaction. The eldest Alexandra grips her head to stop her rapid movements, locking eyes with one another. "It's the only true way. And if he doesn't, then I can whip him good for you."

"Mm, thank you sis. I'll ask him out first, then we'll take it from there," Cassie says, coming out of her stupor. "But while this goes on, is there a way you can fulfill a certain request?"

Later That Night...

Cassandra walks through the darkened halls of her house, creeping down from her room to look for Link's guest room. She finally comes upon his room, and knocks quietly on the door. In about two minutes she decides to knock again louder this time, and ends up pummeling Link's face.

"Oh, sorry Link!" She apologizes, holding her hands out to examine his face, and bruised nose. He just presses it down, as it makes a disgusting 'crick' sound.

"It's okay. So, what is it you wanted?" he asks, sniffing in order to make sure it worked. She slightly blushes as she remembers what she was gonna say.

"I'm sorry Link. It's just that, after spending so much time with you, I'm kinda not use to sleeping alone yet. So I was just hoping you would-"

"I really don't mind, except won't your sister say something?" he retorts, finding himself blushing too. Thinking it over Cassandra feels even more embarrassed.

"Good point. Let's not tell her then," she says with a sneaky expression. And so he lays back on the bed as she closed the door behind her. Wrapping her arms around him her head lies down on his gut, then kisses it before saying, "Good night Link. We have big plans tomorrow." She falls asleep.

"Big plans?" he thinks out loud, figuring it can't be that bad. He plops his head down, and falls asleep, unconsciously wrapping his arm around her. 'She kissed me. But that wouldn't have happened unless she liked me that much...is she in love with me?'

The Next Morning...

Dawn breaks at 6 a.m., as a rooster from a nearby farm crows out. Link and Cassandra are still sleeping together, but in a more intimate position than before. Link has his arms wrapped around her back, pushing her chest up against his. Cassandra's head is planted on his left shoulder, with her right leg brought up around the side of his left waist and her arms held to her chest, or right under it, pressed against his own. She mutters his name in his sleep, smiling as if her dream is somehow enjoyable.

"This is definitely a Kodak moment," Taki says, watching them from beside the door. She is dressed in a very revealing red nightgown, almost as erotic as her ninja outfit. Of course they hear her voice, and added to the light shining in their eyes, the two sleepers suddenly wake up.

Looking at one another Link realizes that his arms are around her, and blushes rather cherry-like. She notices that her leg is wrapped around him, and her hands literally touching his chest. Leaping off of him she sits herself on the bed a few inches away from him, blushing as red as a strawberry. As he stands right up, he looks to see that Taki's dressed so translucently, and turned away from facing either of them.

"I think you should put on some proper clothes Taki. Cassandra, I think you should go to your room." Link says, holding away his blush from them. Cassie's doing her best as well, but is failing miserably. She then quickly stands to her feet and heads back to her room, closing the door behind it.

"Well that was fun. See you downstairs Link," Taki says, winking at him before walking slowly to her room. Link gives out a heavy sigh, as his composure comes back to him. But that's when he notices his pants are wet.

"What the? When did this happen?" He asks himself. Ignoring it he takes off his clothes to change into his back up.

"Oh my god, I pissed on myself." Cassandra complains, changing her clothes as quickly as she can. Sniffing the pair of panties she realizes that it's not what she expected. 'Wait, this isn't piss...oh no! It must have been because of that dream!'

She then proceeds to banging her head against her door in embarrassment. 'Great, I have a sex dream about him and wet all over the same guy. How lame can I be?'

Lucky for her Link isn't even thinking of that now; the thought of the liquid coming from her hadn't even crossed his mind. He's just focused on what she said before she fell asleep. 'Today should be interesting.'

Elsewhere

Outside of Athens a green beast can be seen rummaging along the streets. He speaks out an unintelligent speech and heads for the city. Following him from behind the horrid beast could sense another presence just as evil as him. This presence wearing a black skin-like suit approaches the monster, his crimson cape flowing in the breeze.

_End Chapter..._


	10. The One and Hero of Time vs The Enigma

_**A Love Forged By Souls and Swords**_

Disclaimer: I do not own any franchise in this fic. Namco and/or Nintendo do. No infringement is involved.

Kenshin: I really hope we can come to the ending soon. This is becoming quite the epic!  
Haou:...I got nothing to comment.

Kenshin: But that's your job! You always criticize my sayings as well as the words of our guests!  
Haou: Let's just start the story.

**_Chapter 10: Spawn Returns! The Hero of Time and The One Vs. The Enigma!_**

Athens was a wonderful place to be at; There were amazing sights, rich culture, excellent food, and girls so pretty they make asians look more enjoyable than feet. Link was in town right now, having been sent there for some reason. He was dressed in formal Greek clothing, borrowed from Rothion it seems, and waiting on the side of a chinese food store.

'Why did she want me to wait here? It doesn't really make sense...' He thought, remembering past events.

_Flashback..._

_"Link, can you do me a favor?" Sophitia asked the pointy-eared warrior, standing by his room. Looking up he placed his hands on his knees, about to rise up for whatever demeaning task he might have to do. After all this is Cassandra's sister, as well as the owner of this house._

_"Sure. What is it you wanted?" He asked, staring at her from the corner of his eyes. She then grew a mischievous grin on her face, remembering something she was suppose to do._

_"I need you to go to town for today. There's someone I need for you to meet, so do you mind waiting there?" She asked, giving off the sweetest smile she can ever hope to muster._

_'Why is she smiling?' "Ok, just tell me where." He replied, agreeing to this request of hers. She gave off a smile, and down the hall someone had confirmed it to be just as planned. She then threw some clothes at him._

_"Here, wear these as well. It's appropriate for you to look nice when meeting this one." She stated, as Link looked over the new threads he had._

_'Eh?!'_

_End Flashback..._

"I have a feeling she just wanted me out the house...but why the monkey suit?" He asked himself, poking his clothes on the side as he patiently waited.

"It is a good day, isn't it Link?" A soft yet lovely voice spoke. Turning behind him he saw the most beautiful figure his eyes have ever laid upon; It was a woman around his age, with a white dress, that had blue and green added to it, golden blond hair that compliments her emerald eyes, and a green necklace around her neck. As he looked at her he could only stare even more, as his gaze went down to her legs, and noticed she was wearing blue and white sandals, the same exact kind that he bought for-

"Cassandra!? You look...so...gorgeously pretty..." Link sputtered out, causing the confirmed woman to blush. Cassandra then took his right arm, and pulled him with her, heading someplace else. "Wait, where are we going?"

"Oh, just a place to be alone." She spouted, looking around for a place they could go. "I just...though we could go somewhere to know each other more." At this Link could only lift an eyebrow in suspicions, thinking this could be a date. Of course he didn't want to go on this, believing she wouldn't expect it to be like so.

"Uh, is this a date?" He asked though was expecting immense pain from saying it. So as he braced himself she just smiled quietly at him.

"Yes." This answer totally surprised the boy. He was truly expecting to be clobbered, or kicked in the groins again. But she actually said it was a date. All kinds of thoughts went into his mind, most of them coming to the realization of her liking him. But if that's true, then this would be a perfect time to tell her! "There's a place."

She points to a restaurant; a sea-food one. Smiling the two entered in, getting glances from people around them. Most were waving at them, while others were staring in envy of one or the other. Regardless they soon became the center of attention even as they took their seat. "Link, people are looking at us."

"So? It's not like they're trying to kill us." Link stated, turning to face her as a waiter came by.

"Excuse me, but what would you like to have?" The guy asked, holding a feather pen and what looked like a clipboard.

Minutes Later...

"So Cassy, tell me something." Link said, after finishing off his meal with relative ease. She was still chewing her last piece of steak when he spoke up. "What was the point of this date? There must be some reason for all of this. It isn't just a whim right?"

Cassandra finishes with her meal, then looks at him. She seem to have and incredibly determined look brought upon her face, as she realized that she would have to say it sooner or later.

"Link, ever since we began this perilous venture, we've been through some pretty rough stuff. It is because of such things that have happened that have brought me to realize a hidden truth." She conversed, gaining total hold of Link's attention. She looked to the side, and sighed.

"There will be extremely tough times where we'll both be in terrible trouble, and even might die, which is why I want to tell you this now." She continued, then turned her head over to him.

"Link, the truth, is that I love-"

**KA-BOOM**

The sudden explosion got in the way of what she was about to say, drowning out her voice completely. As people ran around outside from the blast Link and Cassandra were still looking at eachother.

"Uh, can you repeat that? The explosion got in the-wait, hold up." Link then looks behind him to glance outside, and sees fire emitting from a nearby fruit store. But what gets him is that there were two people, or things, in the heat of it all fighting. As he got up and walked closer he realized that those two fighters were...looking like they should be out during Halloween.

It wasn't until he exited the restaurant that he realized one of them was green, literally. He was some kinda green-skinned monster with spikes on his back. He also had long silver claws on his left hand and some orange glowing ooze plate on his chest. Then he noticed the piercing red eyes it possessed. Looking at the other guy Link soon realized that he looked extremely familiar...!

"Spawn!?" He shouted, watching them still go at it. Spawn was wielding a black axe with green eyes on the side. Of course he knew that it was just his cape morphed into an axe like last time, but oh well. The other thing, or guy, was wielding a green and black...goo thing shaped like a sword. "Cassandra, come out! It's him!"

Cassandra exited the building as well, and noticed Spawn fighting that guy as well. "What's he doing here? And what's that thing?"

The green thing swung its sword twice at Spawn, but he easily dodged the attacks by stepping to the right, then left. He then launched a kick to its face with his left foot, sending it back a bit. He spun around to make another kick with his other foot, but missed as the thing regained control of its balance and dodged. Using this in retaliation he swung its sword at Spawn, morphing it into some kinda disconnecting whip.

Spawn managed to reel his head out of the way, as the flames around them spreaded to surround them. They didn't seem to mind though. It then whirled its whip thing around, circling the chain around Spawn. The masked fighter jumped away in time, as the roof of the store began to collapse over them.

Landing at a safe distance Spawn's axe reverted to a cape. People around them began running away, leaving Link and Cassandra around to watch. "Shit! I didn't think he would bring this much trouble..."

"Spawn!" The masked man looked behind him and saw two familiar faces.

"Oh. It's that guy Link, and um..." Well, to him he recognized the elf-ears and aura surrounding Link, but when he looked at Cassandra he...well let's just say he drew a blank. Infact it wasn't until he saw her green eyes that he remembered her face. "...and that other girl."

"OTHER GIRL!?!" She yelled, going into the female scary mode known throughout all kinds of animes. Link slowly backed away from her, then walked towards Spawn.

"So, who was that guy back then? Friend of yours is something I doubt." Link questioned, now ignoring Cassandra as she slowly becomes normal again.

"Oh that guy? Well, let's just say he's someone I've been looking for. His name is Necrid-" Spawn would have continued, except said monster emerged from the flames of the ruined store with his weapon in the form of an axe this time. "-And the goal of my journey here. A friend of mine told me he once possessed Soul Edge."

"Soul Edge? So wait, this guy is-" Link began, but was stopped when Spawn nodded.

"His soul was corrupted by the evil sword and it turned him into what you see before you." As he finished, Necrid came walking over to them.

"(Unknown Language)" Necrid spouted, leaving both Cassy and Link to discern exactly what he said.

"Huh?" Link of course was confused. Who wouldn't when you hear a language you never heard of before and know nothing about? It's like being an illegal immigrant in America. "Did you get that?"

"Nope. No idea." She said, scratching her head in total bewilderment.

"He said 'I will not cease to exist.'" Spawn said, looking at Necrid dead in the eyes. Link and Cassy turned to him, totally surprised to see him.

"Uh, how did you know that?" Link asked, turning to the black clothed man.

"I can understand his language, just like all evil creatures like me." He confessed, as both of them looked at him. Necrid then held its weapon arm out, as the ooze axe morphed into a giant claw. It then shot at Spawn, grabbing him and reeling him in.

"Cassy, I'm gonna help him." Link says, running off. She turned to him and followed, lifting her skirt up slightly to help her run. He ran inside of a store, and was lucky to find it was filled with weapons, but they were all either guan dos, probably from China, spears, small throwing knives and shields, and other weapon cleaning kits.

"This is it?" Link picks out the only weapon that even closely resembles a sword: A chinese guan do with a red and golden wooden pole and a silver blade. Most would think it was a zanpatou like a certain...Soul Calibur character, but it's actually quite different.

Looking around Link would pay, but seeing as nobody was there to make him pay he sniffed, then ran off. As he came out he saw Cassandra there standing before him. "Link, you're really gonna go fight again?" She asked with sincere eyes.

"Of course. He did help us. It's only right we help him. Wouldn't you help out a person who saved you before?" Link stated, walking past her as she sighes in depression.

'I never even got the chance to tell him...' She thought, as her eyes narrowed and she sighed in depression. Link continues running, running off with his weapon after Spawn and Necrid.

'How many other people are gonna be ruined by this weapon? If Ganondorf has it will he be even more powerful than before?' He thought this time, feeling a bit nervous over the idea.

Spawn was still engaged in battle, but it was slightly one-sided against his part. Right now him and Necrid were standing on top of a building, both breathing a bit harshly.

"Fuck, this hurts!" He yelled, as green liquid dripped onto the ground right below him. Looking closely you could tell it was coming from his chest, or more likely the green scar across it.

"(Expressing rage for Spawn.)" Necrid cried out, whipping his ooze thing into a trident. He then stabbed it forward, as it shot at him while extending. Spawn surrounded himself with his cape, then turned into a swarm of bats. Each one flew away leaving Necrid to roar in dispare.

Unknown to Necrid, the bats reformed above it, turning back into Spawn. As he descended down to him, his cape turned into an axe, as he swung it down to cut it in two. Unfortunately Necrid saw him, and grabbed the axe with its left hand. It then threw him to the ground, slamming him through the ceiling. He crashed into...a store that sells illegal snakes. Rising up from the ground he kicks the serpents away, as his eyes glowed green.

"I have had it with these snakes and that freak!" Just as he finished that sentence Necrid came crashing down at him, wrapping its arms around his neck like it was getting a piggy-back ride. "(I got you!)"

Spawn began trying to pull him off, swinging from side to side while spitting out curses like a venomous viper. He successfully throws him off, getting free from the thing and heaving it in front of him. Of course in the chaos of that his neck was scarred by its claws.

"Goddamn piece of shit!" He cursed, feeling the ectoplasm coming out of his neck.

'The wound around my chest is gonna take longer to heal. This guy was created by Soul Edge, so it's no wonder these are taking a while...' He thought, still noticing the wound on his chest only slowly healing. But while he was trapped in his thoughts Necrid forged its ooze weapon into an orb, then jabbed it straight at Spawn's stomach. It sent him flying through the walls behind him, landing on the cold hard dirt.

Necrid came crashing through the wall, as its weapon turned into a large cleaver sword. It stepped over to the Mighty Hellspawn, about to deliver a finishing blow, when it suddenly turned around, swinging its sword to parry a strike coming at him. It was revealed that Link and his guan dao were the cause. He jumped back away, sliding back from the creature.

"I don't know who you are, but I have a debt to keep." Link says, running towards the beast with his 'lance' ready for battle. 'This is so weird. I've never used a weapon like this before, but oh well...'

Swinging down diagonally Link made the next strike, but was blocked by the green weapon it possessed. It then swung its foot straight into Link's face, knocking him into the ground. As Link skidded on the dirty earth, but recovered at a quick pace. He was able to press his hands onto the ground and flip himself into the air.

Link managed to land on his feet, but was being pursued by the beast, as its weapon split into two swords. Necrid slashed its right sword at Link, who managed to do a back flip in the air to dodge. He landed on his feet, then hopped forward as he held his guan do in the air with both hands, slashing down in a vertical strike.

"Jump Attack!" He made his strike, but the only thing that hit Necrid was the wooden pole of the weapon. Upon impact the strike only broke in half, as the only part of the thing that had the blade on it went flying away. Paling, he looked at Necrid with a nervous smile on his face, as it growled while rising taller than him. "Uh, sorry."

Necrid made a fierce battle cry, as Link lifted his right foot, then stomped it on its chest. Using its chest as a platform he leaped into the air, then brought his left foot up to step on its right shoulder, jumping for the broken weapon. Of course he felt somewhat perplexed when he stopped in mid air then felt to the ground. Looking behind him he saw that his right foot was being held by Necrid's left arm.

"Dammit! Let go!" He shouted, but his words obviously didn't reach it. The thing's orb thing formed into a spear. 'This wouldn't be happening if I had brought my sword!'

Necrid was about to impale Link's back, when the green monster looked ahead of them and saw someone he wasn't expecting for a while. There stood Spawn, in all his demonic glory. The chains around his costume began moving on their own, then shot out after Necrid, wrapping around the speechless beast.

"(Cannot translate)" It growled, as it found itself encased in metal chains. Spawn walked towards the beast.

"A piece of shit like you doesn't deserve to take the life of a man." He spoke, then kicked the bladed half of the guan dao to Link. Now free from Necrid's arm he could easily pick it while standing up.

"Thank you. Do you have any idea what that weapon of his is? It keeps changing shape, and turning into weapons." Link questioned, spinning his weapon in his left hand. Looking at him the masked anti-hero lifted Necrid into the air with his chains.

"All I can tell is that it's some sort of enigma. Wherever he got it it must have been part of something stronger." Spawn stated, as his eyes glowed brighter. Link looked at Necrid, then noticed the green ooze forming around the chains. The ooze formed into long tentacles, and flung at both of them. Spawn released the chains around it, allowing both of them to jump away in time to dodge.

Of course they couldn't dodge the full force of the assault, for a few of the tentacles impaled them. Lucky for them though the weapon missed Link's vital organs, as Spawn wasn't so lucky. Both of them fell to the ground, as the tentacles extracted from their bodies. Ectoplasm and blood formed together in a sick mix, the result of the horrible attack.

"Shit. I didn't think this bastard could do that." Spawn cursed, trying effortfully to bring himself up. "I've had enough of this guy!"

"Why...are you after him...in the first place?" Link spoke, while weakingly rising up from the ground. He spat up blood onto the ground, then wiped his mouth of the terrible tasting liquid.

"I'll tell you, if you can do me a favor." Spawn suggested, to which Link could only agree to and just nodded. "Good. To start things off I'm not really from this timeline. I come from the future."

"The future?" Link said with perplexity. Spawn then turned to Necrid, who was rising up.

"Exactly. My real name use to be Al Simmons. I was a member of the C.I.A., and did a real good job at it. But then an asshole named Jason Wynn had me killed, and I descended into Hell." Spawn began, as some of the wounds began to slowly close up. It seems he didn't have any organs that were in the same degree as Link's. Of course the Hyrulean was having trouble moving, still in pain from the attack.

"Hell huh? That must have sucked. How did you get out, and how is it like down there?"

"Let's just say I wouldn't mind going back. I made a deal with some thing down there and became what you see before you. Ever since then I've been killing and putting away evil criminals, my way." He continued in his natural tough guy voice. Link sighed with a hint of excitement inside, but lifted his eyebrow in shock.

"Thing? You made a deal with the Devil?" Link asked, both of them now unaware of Necrid charging at him with a green trident.

"Not exactly. It was Malebolgia, some demon who ruled the 8th level of Hell. We'll continue after this..." Spawn then turned to Necrid, as did Link. The green creature lunged its trident at Spawn, who grabbed Link with his right arm and jumped into the air. He then flew with the extra weight to a much more distant spot. Well, it's actually just another fruit stand.

Necrid's chest plate thing then began to ignite, flames collecting inside the center. Both Link and Spawn watched, as it grew bigger. "Damn. It's the Void Cannon."

"Void?" Link looked to the Hellspawn like he was crazy.

"It's a move he used a while back. Get back!" Spawn held both his hands forward, facing them before the green enigma. Both his palms glowed with dark flames, almost the same way as Necrid was doing. Link ran off away from the two, knowing full well not to get involved with something like this.

"Necro Cannon!" Spawn fired off first, a stream of black flames heading towards Necrid. It fired back in retaliation, sending a blast of fire at the Hellspawn.

Both attacks collided with fierce effects. The blasts blew both of them away, resulting in a shockwave to blow back certain obstacles. Link was affected too, sent flying by the incredible attack through a wall. The two attacks left both fighters on the ground, still in pain from the force sent at them.

Necrid was the first to get up, spitting blood out from its mouth. Slowly walking over to Spawn, its weapon formed into double swords. The creature was totally raggered. Having to face the two was a task a bit too much for it. There were scars across its body, including its arms and legs. It stopped short at Spawn, just a bit before him while raising both swords.

But before it could seal his fate, it suddenly cried out in pain, as the two weapons it held disappeared. Turning its head around to the right Necrid saw a wooden pole sticking out from behind it, and noticed it was really a spear.

"(What the hell?!)" It spoke out, trying to reach the spear behind it. Turning around fully it saw Cassandra holding two more spears in her hands.

"Yes. It worked!" She said thankfully, then threw another spear at the thing. This one was grabbed by Necrid's right arm, keeping himself from being struck. "What the hell?"

Its green weapon then grabbed the spear behind him, pulling it out from its body as blood squirted from the wound. It began walking towards Cassandra, ready to teach her a rather painful lesson, until Link came bursting out from the wall he fell through. He was sprinting towards Necrid at a fast pace, pointing his weapon forward in a stabbing position.

"Hyper Dash!" He crashed into the beast, jabbing his blade into the side of its ribs. This strike made it yell out in pain, as releasing a major torrent of blood, as Link stopped running and pulled his weapon out. Necrid went sliding across the ground, stopping as his head crashed into a boulder. He then ran to Cassandra. "Cassy, are you ok?"

"Link, you should ask yourself that question." She said, as Link blinked while looking at her. She then dropped her weapon, then hugged him into an emotional embrace. "Look at you, you're bleeding all over and you ask about my wellfare. Link, you keep this up you'll die."

"C-Cassandra..." He whispered to himself, as his left hand came up to the back of her head, and his right hand came around her back, rubbing it softly. "I'm sorry."

"Ow!" The two turn around to see Spawn waking up from the strike earlier. He sat upright, feeling the ectoplasm oozing out from him with his left hand. "Anyday you like to help me, would be nice."

"Oh sorry!" Both of them said, and blushed, completely forgetting about him at that time. Link and Cassandra released eachother, then ran towards Spawn to help him up. Link placed Spawn's arm around behind his shoulder, trying his best to lift him up. But for some reason he was a bit heavier than he expected.

"Damn! You need to lay off the meat! How much do you weigh?!" Link complained, trying his best to pick him up. Spawn looked at him with a certain death look.

"We're made of ectoplasm, not blood. And that makes us alot heavier than you think." He said, looking at Link through his mask. "Can you finish your story now?"

"Not yet. Let's make sure he doesn't start moving again." Spawn moved himself off of Link, then walked over to Necrid, who was trying to get up. Spawn's cape flung onto Necrid, wrapping around its chest for a reason. "That should keep it underwraps. Now for the story.

Lately I've been fighting against Malebolgia plenty of times, but it wasn't until I discovered the source of his energy. It was coming from an evil sword that you might know about."

"Soul Edge?" Link asked, guessing if that was the sword he was talking about.

"Yes, that's correct. After our last match that I couldn't win against, I went back in time with the help of a friend of mine to destroy the sword the year of its creation, weakening him to the point of a permanent death. I would have destroyed it a long time ago, but I was trapped in a dark void with that guy over there. We did escape the dimension, but two people actually helped us escape." Spawn concluded, leaving both Cassy and Link to think over what he said.

"Who were these two people?" Cassy asked, looking at Spawn.

"Well, one was a guy with a red pole and the other was a chinese woman with a blue holy weapon. I concluded that weapon to be the only sword that could destroy Soul Edge, Soul Calibur." Spawn continued, as Link began to think over who those two could be. "After the two fought against the evil spirit of Soul Edge, we were set free. But the both of us appeared in two different locations, and I was forced to search him out again. I was hoping if I could kill it I would destroy Soul Edge as well."

"You really think so?" Cassandra said, turning to Link then at Spawn.

"Regardless, he'll only be in the way. This guy needs the shards to live. If he doesn't collect any more he'll cease to exist in this world." Spawn's cape then returned to him, as the chains took over and wrapped around Necrid. His cape turned into an axe again, as he walked over to it to deliver the final blow. "Go to hell."

"Stop! Please!" A feminine voice spoke, as they both turned to Cassandra, then all three looked behind them, and saw someone coming towards them.

This girl, who didn't look older than even Link, was rather lovely. She had tan skin and green eyes like Cassy's, with black hair wrapped in two pigtails. Her clothes consisted of white arm sleeves and long white pants, each with red and green markings on them, and a green bra-like wrap across her chest. She was carrying two tonfa looking weapons, but they had blades on them though.

"Please, don't kill him." She asked again, running towards Necrid. She stopped before it as her arms went over the thing.

"Move, woman. This does not concern you!" Spawn yelled, still holding his axe in the air. Link collapsed onto one knee, resulting in Cassandra to helping him up.

"Who are you?" Cassandra asked, looking at the woman there. She turned to the Alexandra sister.

"My name is Talim. I'm a wind prietess from the Village of the Wind Deity. I've been looking for this man ever since we last met." The woman said, looking down at the injured Necrid.

"And why are you looking for him?" Link asked, staring upon Talim with great interest. She stared up at him, and noticed that he seemed a bit different than most people, and it wasn't because of the ears.

"...He saved my life one time." At these words Spawn's eyes dimmed down, looking down at the now seemingly evil creature. Link blinked in retaliation to what she said, then turned to Necrid.

"You want to save him because of a debt?" Cassandra asked, still staring at the demonic creature.

"No. I want to try and return him to normal." Talim said, standing up this time before Spawn. "I know that if Soul Edge were to be destroyed for good all the effects it has made on him and others will reverse."

"Is that so? And do you really plan on stopping me just to save his soul?" Spawn asked rather harshly, as Talim flinched from the venomous tone.

"Yes. I will. Please, just do this one thing, and we'll leave you alone." She pleaded, gazing at the axe still above Spawn's head.

"And how do I know he won't come trying to kill me?" He asked once again, looking at the hardly breathing creature.

"Spawn, if you remember clearly you were the one who attacked him. I'm sure he now has no intention of fighting you." Link commented, looking at the almost completely serious anti-hero. Looking at Link, then turning back at Necrid and Talim, he sighs in utter defeat. Spawn lowered his axe, as it turned into a cape again.

"I hate being nice." Spawn said, looking away from the two and walking to the injured elf. "This is your fault."

"I know." Link replied, smiling like the idiot he was at that moment. Cassandra sighed as she lifted him up, and carried him while walking home. "You know you can come with us, right?"

"I do, but I don't like to be offered it." Spawn stated, bending down to lift Necrid up. Talim helped, as all of them headed towards Cassandra's place. As the five of them walked on, a hooded figure appeared from out the shadows of an incinerated building, weilding a scythe. He then threw it, as it spun in the air towards Cassandra and Link.

Necrid looked behind it in time to see it coming at them, then pushed both Spawn and Talim aside as it got in the way of the scythe's path. The weapon impaled its back, causing it to scream out in pain. Link and Cassandra turned around to see Necrid in pain. Going to him they were about to help it when it collapsed onto the ground, facedown.

"Oh my god! What happened?!" Cassy screamed, holding her hands to her mouth. Talim fell to the green creature, shaking it to try and get it to move.

"No, it can't be! He can't be dead!" Talim cried, as some tears came dripping down her face. Link looked behind them, and saw the hooded man.

"It was him! He must have done it!" Link yelled, pointing his right hand towards the guy. Just as the others turned towards him, he disappeared. Confused was what they were right then, as they tried to figure out who did he mention.

"Who the hell are you talking 'bout, elf?" Spawn asked, not seeing anybody there. Link was about to answer, when he felt something touching his neck, well actually around his neck. Looking at his chest he saw that there was a necklace around his neck. It was a blue eye with an emerald green tint on it. Placing his hands on the item he tried his best to lift it, but initially failed somehow. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't remove the item. Spawn and Cassandra then turned to face Link, and see his struggling with an unfamiliar necklace. "What are you doing?"

"This thing won't move! I keep trying to lift it and it won't move! It just suddenly appeared around my neck!" He complained, still trying to move the thing.

"There's some noise around here!" A voice shouted, as several other footsteps could be heard heading towards them. Cassandra looked behind her, and realized who those voices could be.

"Guys, the village police are here! If they find us we'll be locked away!" She stated, as more dread came onto her face. Link was still trying to remove the necklace, as Spawn only sighed in depression. Talim was still broken up over the sudden attack on Necrid.

"Oh well. Guess it can't be avoided." Spawn's cape then surrounded all of them, engulfing them within its shadow. Soon the cape vanished as well, as it turned into a plague of bats. The bats flew away in a group, heading for someplace else just in time for the police to come by and watch them go away.

Elsewhere in a corner, the hooded man looked up at the bats, as his hood came down to reveal the face of a black man, with a yellow eye. "The script's going perfectly. But that man wasn't part of it. It seems this is gonna be troublesome with his presence..."

"Then maybe you need some help in getting rid of him." A dark sinister voice spoke. Calmly turning to his left he saw, down the alleyway, a fat guy walking towards him. This wasn't like any normal human though. This guy was dressed completely unlike anyone else in this world. He had blue jeans, shoes, a rather small shirt and jean jacket that barely covered his belly. His face was also covered with white and blue makeup, with his head mostly bald save for three white streams of hair.

"Who are you, and how come I couldn't sense you?" The black man asked, turning towards the guy. Make up face only laughed, as a rat past him by. Picking it up he then bit its head off, before swallowing and throwing the body to the side.

"Just someone who would like to teach a certain crispy asshole a lesson." He said, walking closer to him. "I also would like to bring his sorry ass back where he belongs. Of course, we can always work through an agreement of some sort." He then held his hand out.

Looking at his hand the other man could tell he wasn't human. But then again this would be perfect to get rid of a certain extra in his play. So he grabbed his hand, and shook firmly.

"Zasalamel. And you?" The black man asked, not losing his dark gaze upon the man.

"I'll tell you later. Just bring me to your superior..." He said, with a devious, and demonic, snicker as his eyes glowed red.

_End Chapter..._

Kenshin: Whoa! That was a bit much. Oh well, I'll stick with this.  
Haou: Did you have to add him into this?

Kenshin: You and I both know that any Spawn story wouldn't be complete without that asshole to piss him off. The only thing I'm worried on getting through is that necklace thing.  
Haou: What about Maxi and the others? It's been two chapters since they've been around!

Kenshin: Look, let's just end the chapter now before we start rambling.


	11. Patroklos' Love Problem! You're Alive!

**A Love Forged By Souls And Swords**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. Nintendo and Namco do. I also don't own Spawn or Necrid. Todd McFarlane does...that's how you spell his name right?

Kenshin: Well what do you know? Last chapter was our biggest yet and still not a single review. Must not have been that good.  
Haou: Or maybe because you made it into an M-rated story because of Spawn's dialogue our loyal readers can't find it!

Kenshin: Though it might not have been good, it is still an important chapter for the story structure. Time to start.  
Haou: Did you ignore me!?

Kenshin: Also, this chapter might feel like a filler, but it's still important.

* * *

_**Chapter 11: Patroklos' Love Problem! You're Alive?!**_

A plague of dark bats flew towards a familiar bakery, then merged together to form into a blood red cape. Said cape was large enough to cover a mid-sized ship and a little more. It then opened up, revealing five figures from within its sun-cloaking shadows: Link, Spawn, Cassandra and Talim came out with Necrid in their arms. They ran inside the bakery, as the red cape disappeared behind Spawn's back, barging in and through the door to try and get it medical attention. Sophitia came through the back in time to see them placing Necrid on the ground and gasped.

"Who is this you have brought here?" The married woman asked, holding her right hand to her mouth to suppress a shocking gasp from the grotesque appearance of the green thing. She then saw Spawn, and released an even more shocking yelp. "Who may you be?"

"Someone you don't need to worry about." The Hellspawn replied, holding his chest with his left arm to hold back the ectoplasm dripping from his still unhealed wounds. Sophitia was surprised to see these non-humane characters coming into her home, then noticed the third new person was a human girl younger than her sister.

"Cassandra, why have you brought these people here? I sense a dark aura emitting from those two." Cassandra looked up to her older sister, and turned her eyes to the right side. "What happened on the-"

"Well, these two showed up and ruined the whole thing." Cassy interrupted her older sister, as she opened her mouth in the shape of an 'O'. Link sat in a chair beside them, as Talim took out a bandana and blotted the blood from Necrid's wound with it.

"This has been a vigorous day. Why did you come here anyway?" Link asked the masked comic book anti-hero. Spawn turned his head creekingly towards him.

"I told your dumbass I was following this thing! The fact that it led me to Athens and you two were there was only a coincidence." Spawn then turned to Sophitia, as his green eyes dimmed slightly. "Though I did plan on finding you three after-Hey what happened to that other guy?"

Spawn then searches the place for Maxi, before realizing he wasn't around in sight. Link and Cassandra looked to the ground in sadness as Spawn soon came to realize what that meant. "So, the big tuna went belly-up?"

"Don't call him that. Maxi was a great nakama to us. He didn't deserve to die on us." Cassandra said sternly, not mentioning Xianghua or Kilik along with the fierce pirate they believe to be dead. Link turned to her to try and calm her down, but the fierce look she was giving Spawn for dissing Maxi made him think otherwise. "Sophitia, we need your help now more than ever. This man/thing, whatever, took a bullet for one of us, and is dying because of it. Can you help heal him?"

"Sister..." Sophitia then looked down at Talim, who was still cleaning Necrid's wound.

"Please help him. He doesn't truly mean any harm..." She asks, looking up to the well known Alexandra woman. Sophitia bowed her head while smiling, then brought it back up with the smile still there.

"I'll do my best."

The Next Day...

The eye of heaven blazed brightly in the sky; The third waiting day for Cassandra's weapons to be made has come. Hopefully this day would prove to be actually peaceful for our heroes and-

"Kyaaaaaaa!!" Maybe not.

Inside the home of Rothion and Sophitia a red blur was seen running through the halls with a short katana. It seems it was heading for Spawn who was right at the end with Link. "What the hell is that?!"

"Oh no." Link pushed Spawn out of the way, before the red blur came slashing at him. With the figure not running anymore it was easy to depict it out to be Taki. "Taki, what the hell are you doing? He's a guest in Cassandra's home like me and you."

"Really?" She asked, before lowering her weapon a bit. Link held his hands up in a gesture to get her to sheath it instead. "But how do we know he isn't trying to kill us for those shards?"

"You guys got more?" Spawn asked, turning to Link as he ignored the crimson ninja.

"Yeah. It's the sword of Cervantes de Leon." Link answered, not noticing Taki sheathing her sword away.

"You have Soul Edge? Why didn't you destroy it?" Spawn asked the elfen warrior, who adjusted his robe so it wouldnt't fall off.

"Well, we need to destroy Soul Edge as a whole and not just crush the pieces for there's a chance they might revive. I figure that's the best way to make sure it doesn't come back again." Spawn's attention then went down to the necklace still around Link's neck, wondering if he slept while wearing that.

"You haven't taken that off yet have you?" Spawn asked, pointing to the artifact around Link's throat tube. Link looked down at the item, then placed his left hand onto it to try and move it, but to no avail. "Oh, you really can't take that off."

"I know. I still can't understand what this is and why won't it leave me." Taki walked up to Link, examining the item herself. She placed her right hand around it to try and move the necklace, but she couldn't budge it either.

"Yup. It's stuck there. Jump up." She requested of him, and he shrugged, doing it anyway. When he did jump, the necklace followed him, lifting up as he came down as a result of gravity. "Well, it seems the rules of gravity still apply to it. Whatever it could be it seems stuck on you for good."

"So wait, you're implying that I'm gonna be walking around with this thing forever? Something probably very valuable yet I can't give it to someone else or sell it?" Link complained, sighing at the end as he walked away down the hall. Spawn took a good look at the necklace, then turned to Taki.

"So, what's your story?" Taki asked Spawn, who turned away as his eyes released green smoke.

Link came down the stairs and found Cassandra sitting at a table. She was drinking herbal tea out of a cylinder cup dressed his her familiar white and blue attire. She turned her head up to Link as he came down.

"Link," She began, holding her right hand out as a gester to sit down next to her. "I'm glad you came down, because I want to tell you something."

"Sure, I have something to say as well." He replied, sitting down next to her. "You go first."

"Uh, sure." She felt herself grow red all over her face just thinking about having to say it. 'Come on, Cassandra. You can do it! You love him, you care about him, you say the right words!'

"Link, I-"

"Uh, aunt Cassy?" A meek little voice spoke, getting in the way of Cassandra's words. She was about to go over and kill the cause of distraction, when she saw her only nephew standing there. Patroklos was dressed in the expectable Athenian clothing, and was looking kinda sad.

"Patroklos, is something wrong?" She asked her sister's son, rising up from her seat and walking to his side. Link followed her, completely forgetting about the confessing he was gonna say.

"It's uh...I need, I mean..." He sputtered, unable to get the right words out. It's like speaking to a parrot with a speech impediment.

"Calm down Patroklos, and tell me what is wrong?" She said to him, holding her hands on his shoulders. He slowed his talking, then stopped all together. Soon he began inhaling a large amount of air, then slowly exhaling it out, effectively calming him down. "There we go."

"...I...there's this girl I know, and I was...well, you know..." He finally made out, bringing both Link and Cassy to blink while thinking about it.

"Wait hold up: You have a girlfriend?" Link asked abruptly, which in turn caused Cassy to smile with glee. Infact she was so happy she jumped up while still holding him.

"Aw, my little nephew's in love! What's her name?" She asked, going all mom on the fact that he has a woman in his life. Link's face faltered slightly at her strange act, but then noticed the sad face still planted on Patroklos' face.

"Uh, I don't think that's it." Link commented, stopping Cassy from continuing her...thing. "Patroklos, she rejected you didn't she?"

Cassandra turned to face her nephew, who shook his head yes in response to Link's question. She widened her mouth in shock as she looked at him. "Is that true?"

"N-not truly. I couldn't tell her..." He muttered, feeling completely embarassed about having to fess up. Cassandra soon placed her nephew back on the floor. "I'm...afraid she might say no."

"Patroklos, why wouldn't she say yes to you? You're adorable!" She proclaims, bringing a smile upon her face. Link walked towards a wall, then leaned his back up against it.

"I know, it's just...I'm not sure Asselia will like me back." Patro stated, still suffering from the speech impediment.

"Don't worry. I'll help you through this! Just leave it to me, and she won't know what hit her!" Cassy was seriously too into this, something Link has never seen from her before. She must really love love. She then carried Patroklos away, going towards her room probably.

"She was about to say something too, wasn't she?" He asked no one in particular, believing that what she was just about to say earlier could have been very important. Oh well...

Later That Day...

Link was outside by the yard, watching the light of day closing away. "What a beautiful twilight. It reminds me so much of-"

"Link!" A feminine and lovely voice spoke. Turning to his right he noticed Cassandra walking up to him. She then stopped a few centimeters away. "There was a bit of a problem with the confession..."

"What happened?" He asked, then noticed Patroklos coming from behind her.

"I failed again." He confessed, looking at the two of them from where he was standing. Link held the left side of his head with his left hand, feeling frustrated by the situation. "I just couldn't tell her..."

"...Alright, my turn." Link rises up from the grassy field and picks up Patroklos by his shirt collar with his right hand and walks towards the back of the house. Confused to what he was up to Cassandra follows.

Link comes by a stout and stubby tree, which perfectly fits his size. He drops Patroklos on his behind, and grabs his sword with his left hand. Pulling it out from his sheath he makes a slash at the tree, cutting a part of it off diagonally.

Cassandra made a distorted face in response to the sudden thing he did as Patroklos smiled at how cool Link looked. "Link, what the hell is this about?"

"Patroklos, I want you to attack the rest of the tree with as much enthusiasm and courage as you can muster." Link then walked to the side to let Patroklos do what he needed. Of course he seemed perplexed on how this would help him.

"Uh, but why would I-"

"Do it!" Link said, causing the kid to yelp back in surprise. The little kid didn't feel like getting on his bad side, so he went for it, running up to the tree stump and landing a kick to its base.

"There we go, but try and release more energy when doing it. You need to really get confident and believe you can actually damage it." Link stated, as Cassy just watched with a large amount of sweat coming down her face. Feeling confident already Patroklos went back to fighting the sliced tree.

"Uh, Link? A minute..." Cassy pulls him back a bit away from Patro, who was doing better in his strikes. She then whispers to him, "What the hell is this about? What's fighting gonna do?!"

"This is all a matter of spirit." Link began, whispering back to the pretty Greek. "I'm just getting his blood rushing with adreniline to make his confidence rise. This will make telling that girl his love for her to be easier than fishing for rubber boots."

"Oh, that's all?" Cassandra seemed like she understood the method to Link's madness.

"Don't worry: he's in good hands."

"What's going on?" Patroklos had stopped pounding the tree with his foot and was now standing before his aunt and her love interest.

"Oh nothing. You know what Patroklos, I think you seem to be a bit stronger now." His aunt stated, smiling fakely at him. Fooled y the clever trick Patroklos looked up at her.

"I do?"

"Yeah you seem like a whole new person!" Link stated, as both him and Cassy held their hands up as fists. They then both shouted, "Go for it!"

To those words he could only blink questionably at them.

Ten Minutes Later...

"Man, helping your brother out is more of a pain than fighting monsters!" Link stated, comparing his past battles to something psychologically harder. He and Cassy were sitting inside the kitchen by the table.

"Well, with those you're only fighting. I hope it works." Cassy said to him, cupping her chin on her right hand, which rested on the table by the elbow. "If he loves her, he should come out and say it to her."

"I know...what does this girl look like anyway? What's her name?" Link turned his eyes to her, who started thinking over how exactly did this girl look like.

"Well, she's Greek like him. Her name is Asselia. She has black small hair that only comes to her eyebrows, her eyes are like blue sapphires and she-"

"You, really observed her didn't you?" Link said, with a weird expression appearing on his face. She just gave off a big smile.

"I'm good with this sort of stuff." She announced, then turned as they heard something move. They then saw Patroklos standing before them, looking down literally and expressionally. "Is something wrong Patroklos?"

"I'm not sure this will work out. I can't change my personality by just training!" He said, shouting at the last sentence. Link just closed his eyes in frustration, and Cassandra sighed depressingly. 'He figured it out...'

"Dammit all." Link muttered to himsef, standing up from where he sat and walking over to Patroklos. He placed a hand around his shirt collar and dragged him outside. "That's it; no more fooling around."

"Wha-what're you doing?!" The kid asked in a panick, not really minding the dirt stains on his bag-brown pants. Cassandra ran to catch up with him.

"Link, what are you doing this time!?" She asked, freaked to see her only nephew being treated like this. Link came up to the front of the bakery, and dropped the boy down.

"Ok, you are gonna go and tell this girl Asselia you care about her, or you shall not return to this building!" Link stated with a determined look in his eyes. Looking down at Patroklos he began to notice the fear and doubt that was swelling up in his eyes like an inflated balloon.

"But this is my house-"

"Dammit boy! Didn't you just say this morning that you loved this woman, or was that hot-air coming out of your ass?!" Link spat out venomously, bringing out an expression of understanding upon Patroklos' face. "If you ever plan on telling her your love you have to get your ass up and tell her! If not can you really be expected to do anything better in your life? Can you really be a hero?!"

Patroklos began to think over what Link said to him, beginning to understand what exactly what he was talking about. Soon he realized what Link meant, and gasped as his eyes widened in shock. Soon he rose to his feet, and walked off for elsewhere. "Thank you!" He yelled back, waving his right hand back at him.

Link stood by where he was proudly looking at Patroklos run off. Cassandra came up behind him. "Link, who told you something like that?"

"Those words came to me from a friend of mine named Saria. She's the whole reason I was able to marry Zelda in the first place..." He replied, talking back to her. She felt her throat dry up suddenly at the mention of the word 'marry' and someone elses name directly after it. It was then that she remembered what she was suppose to tell him.

"Uh Link, there was something I was-"

"Not now, we have to follow him and make sure he gets there!" Link said, suddenly interrupting her. He grabbed her left hand with his right and ran after Patroklos. As they ran, Cassandra felt herself blushing at the sudden contact.

'His hands...are so warm...'

Grassy Plain...

Link and Cassy followed Patroklos to this beautiful scenery; Standing in between the middle of a sunset and the dawning twilight of day were two young kids about half their age. One was obviously Patroklos, while the other was a girl his age who fit the description of Cassandra's view of Asselia before and wore a purple dress with a white shirt underneath.

"You think he'll say it this time?" Cassandra whispered to him, as they hid from sight behind a tree. Link smiled with confidence.

"Of course." Link confirmed, as Cassandra's attention went back to looking at her little nephew.

"Asselia, there's something I've been trying to tell you." Patroklos began, as his eyes began shifting to and from her own. She blinked as her eyes started to stare at him.

"Patros, you seem a bit different. What is it?" She asked in response to what he said.

He still felt a bit nervous about being rejected, so much so he was ready to vomit. But then the blushing greek thought back to what Link said to him not too long ago.

'Do you love this woman, or was that hot air coming out of your ass?!'

These words continued to wander throughout his mind, plaguing him from within until he finally gave in. Looking up he made firm contact with her eyes, his cheeks becoming tomato red. "I...really like you!"

Asselia blinked shockingly, obviously not expecting this sort of confession. Even more surprised she started blushing. Link and Cassy notice the girl growing red just like Patroklos, and revealed an expression of happiness. Soon the boy began to speak again. "Do you accept my love?"

She slowly closed her eyes, then a smile slowly crept up on her mouth like a snake hidden within a swamp. Her eyes then opened up and looked at him. "Sure."

Patroklos gasped out loud in joy, then threw his arms around her. Blushing, she returned the embrace and the two rested their heads on eachother's shoulders. Looking from afar Cassandra held her hands together with both hands and smiled.

"Oh how romantic. You think they'll love eachother long enough for marriage?" Cassy asked him, blushing slightly as she looked at the two.

Link smiled slightly, placing his right hand around Cassandra's shoulders. "I don't think he needs to worry anymore. If she really loves him then she loves him, that's that. It's not like she has a reason not to like him."

"I guess so-" Cassandra soon began to realize that Link's arm was still around her. She started blushing ragingly, looking back at Link with a loving intent. Her left hand crept up onto him and grabbed his right hand. "Link, there is something I wish to tell you, but I can't tell you now."

"Huh? Something to tell me?" Link said to her. She turned away from facing him and blushed even deeper.

"I'll...tell you some other time. Let's just head back." She said to him, placing her right arm around his right. The two then headed back home, leaving Patroklos and Asselia to enjoy the sunset.

Sophitia...

The older Alexandria sister was washing dishes inside the kitchen, after another successful day of selling pastries. But that wasn't what was making her thinking so hard. She was thinking about Link and her little sister. After watching the two interact all the time she begins to realize how much he cares about her.

"I truly hope he loves her. It would be so wonderful to have a nephew or a niece of my own here." She said with a smile. She was just about ready to finish the last plate, when it hit her.

She felt dazed and pale, almost as if she was under some sort of mind-control. She was so out of it she dropped the plate, having it shatter upon contact. Of course that brought someone to hear those words.

Rothion came from where he was and found his wife in such a dazed state. "Sophitia! What's wrong?!" He ran up to her and stood before her face. Her eyes were staring off into the distance, and totally lifeless. Suddenly the woman fell to the ground, crashing into his arms. "Sophitia?"

Rothion carried her upstairs to place her someplace comfortable. All the while he continued to call to her, trying to bring her out from behind those now white eyes of hers. So far all attempts proved futile.

Ten minutes later the front door opened up, revealing Link and Cassandra, from left to right, walking in holding hands. Link closed the door behind them as Cassy called out for her sister and brother-in-law. "Sister? Rothion? Where are you guys!?"

No response. This brought concern to Cassandra, as she realized that Sophitia was here before they left. With the time it is now, there's no way they would be out in town. So to her, something must have happened. She turned to Link, and discovered that he must have figured it out as well. Grabbing the sword hilt on his back he and Cassy ran deeping into the house.

He went inside the kitchen to look for them, but only found clean dishes and the remaining pieces of a smashed plate. He turned behind him to move onward, but stopped when Cassy came in. "Anything?"

"Nope. But look at this: pieces of a plate." He said, pointing to the shattered marble dish. She went down on her left knee and picked up a piece. "Something must have happened. Let's check upsta-"

"Cassandra!? Is that you!?" A male voice called out. Both looked up at the ceiling and discovered it was coming from the second level of the house.

The two warrriors ran for the stairs and climbed up them as if they were chimpmunks. By the time they reached the top they found Rothion standing within the hallways, obviously looking for them. "Oh good, you guys are here. Something terrible has happened to Sophitia!"

"What? What happened to sister?!" Cassandra asked in shock, running into their bedroom. She found her faceup on the bed, unconscious from what happened earlier. Cassy ran to her side and tried to shake her, but didn't get anything. She placed her head beside her chest, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good. You're alive."

"What happened?" Link asked her, walking in the room with Rothion. He then saw Cassy's sister on the bed. "Cassandra, is she alive?"

"Yes." She said, turning towards Link. "It seems she-"

Just before she could finish Sophitia gasped out, finally regaining consciousness. Her eyes opened up as well, revealing the green eyes she was known for. Cassandra was so happy. "Oh thank the gods you're ok! What happened to you!?"

"I, don't know..." Sophitia said, still breathing slowly. Her eyes looked up at Link. "But I somehow gained a vision..."

"A vision?" Link spoke questionably. "What was it about?"

"It was...about you, and Cassandra and Spawn, as well as two others. You were inside a large cathedral, standing before a man in dark clothing and another guy with red eyes." She began, as Link's eyes went wide.

"But this man, he was evil. The man, reaked of Soul Edge's dark aura, among two holy forces from his left hand." At this Link felt no doubt in his mind: It was exactly who he realized from the beginning. Without nothing to lose except time Link placed both his hands on her shoulders.

"Sophitia, where exactly is this cathedral?"

Four Days Later...

"Have a safe journey you three. I hope you destroy Soul Edge this time." Sophitia said. She stood by the front of her house before Link, Spawn, Taki and Cassandra. Link was in the green tunic uniform he always wore with Spawn wear...wait, he wears the same damn thing too. Taki had on her familiar red outfit, and blue, gold striped gauntlets on her legs and arms. She wore shoulder pads with the same design.

Cassandra was dressed the same as well, except she was wearing white long boots, and had a shield and sword on her back. Her shield was just a different version of her previous Nemea shield, the one she lost in the fight against Cervantes. The sword slightly resembled the sword she broke fighting against Cervantes, only a bit blue instead.

Spawn was holding a brown bag full of camping supplies and Link had a compass in his left hand. "So we just head north of here?"

"Yes you do." Sophitia replied, pointing behind them for where they must go. Link and Taki nodded, and with that the four were on their way. Sophitia walked back inside the house, as Patroklos came running out past her.

"Link!" He called out, causing the elfen warrior to turn around. He looked down at the child.

"Uh, what's up? Come to see us off?" Link asked the boy, who was looking up at him smiling.

"Thank you again for what you did." He spoke, bringing a smile onto the Hylian's face. He then turned to Cassandra. "Aunt Cassie, please look after him. It would be nice to have an uncle like him!"

At that last line both parties blinked then blushed while turning away from the other. She stepped closer to the little boy, bowed her head close to his left ear and whispered in his ear. After her little speech the three fighters walked away, heading for what they hoped to be their final destination.

"What was that about?" The female ninja asked, placing her hands around the back of her head. Cassy smiled and held her right hand up before her.

"None of your business." She stated, causing Taki to growl in anger.

Patroklos ran back inside his home with the biggest smile on his face. He ran into his sister Pyrra and his mother Sophitia, who were staring at him.

"What did she say to you?" Sophitia asked her son, who chuckled slightly.

"She's definitely gonna tell him tonight."

Deeper Into The Forest...

Link, Spawn, Taki, and Cassandra were all walking through the green obsessed desert they were stuck between. Following what little directions they got from Sophitia and the compass in Link's hand, he was also leading, the quartet were determined to put an end to Soul Edge once and for all. The trip seemed sort of slow and boring, and it wasn't until Spawn spoke up that the others stopped walking.

"Are we really about to head to someplace that might not exist, because your sister had a vision?" The Hellspawn stated, causing Cassandra to glare at him.

"Oi! Are you doubting my sister?!" She yelled at him, shaking her left fist at the masked fighter. Link was just focused on the task of finding the cathedral while Taki was slightly drowsy.

"Are you guys sure it's around here?" A new voice spoke. The guys looked to their right to the direction of the voice.

"Do you doubt me!? I know what I'm doing!" This time a female voice yelled out. There was a bit of grass and leaves rustling, indicating that whoever was talking was coming close to them.

"Link, those voices...it sounds like-"

"I know. But that's impossible! Xianghua, Maxi! Is that you!?" Link called out after interrupting Cassandra.

"Did you hear that?!" A third party voice spoke. The rustling of leaves seems to be getting louder by the second, almost as if they were coming their way. Soon a figure emerged from behind a couple of trees, revealing the pirate they've come to enjoy being with.

"Maxi! You're really alive!" Cassandra shouted in joy, as Link smiled in joy. Next to him were Xianghua and Kilik. Both looked extremely happy to see them. "Xianghua, Kilik, you all survived!!"

Xianghua ran up to the four, stopping of course before them. Kilik and Maxi joined her, and once again they were together. Xianghua then said to them, "We were worried sick about you two! We thought you had died!"

"We did too!" Cassandra replied, bringing out an expression of confusion. "What happened to you guys?!"

"Hey it's you!" Maxi shouted out suddenly, looking at Spawn with preparation and slight fear.

"Oh, you're alive." Spawn spoke with boredom in his voice. Taki stood before the two, keeping them from causing anymore trouble.

"Who are you again?" She asked the pirate, feeling a slight blush come across her face. Maxi blinked as he looked at her, then turned away.

"Well, it's a long story, but seeing as we got nowhere to go I can tell you." Kilik said, walking over to a tree and lying against it. He then placed his bo to his chest, and looked back up at the others.

"It all begins when after our run in with Cervantes..."

_**End Chapter...**_

Kenshin: I wonder how long this chapter will be. Anyway, next chapter The four heroes will learn what exactly happened to the three nakama. If we have enough time and room Cassandra will finally be able to speak with Link without any distractions.

Haou: But for their story to be told won't we need like 5000 words, not including the words in the author's notes?

Kenshin: This is more like the 'Original Characters of the Author's Notes'. Space Hero of Chaos only writes the stories. He hardly ever appears in these parts. Besides, what's he gonna do here, spoil the story?

(A cluster of darkness comes before Kenshin and Haou, causing them to yell and point in shock.)

Kenshin: what are you doing here?!


	12. Link's Proposal and Discovery!

**A Love Forged By Souls And Swords**

Disclaimer: I do not own any elements or characters from Zelda or the Soul series. Only Namco and/or Nintendo do.

Kenshin: I think there's something wrong with Space Hero. He seems to be less happy lately.  
Haou: Someone stole Metroid Prime 3.

(Kenshin makes an extremely loud gasp as a traumatizing sound-track was played, then passes out from exhaustion. Haou looked down at his other half and 'tsk'ed him while shaking his head.)

Haou: Dumbass. It's just a game.

(Haou then turns to the audience.)

Haou: Well since Kenshin's out of commission I guess I'll have to do this chapter. Let's hope I still got it; What Xianghua, Kilik, and Maxi did while Link and the others were walking to and in Athens.

**_Chapter 12: The Back Story of The Three Nakama! Link's Proposal and Discovery!_**

_Flashback..._

_"Maxi, please hold on! We're gonna get you some help!" shouted Xianghua. She was sitting above the unconscious injured form of Maxi, who was bleeding from his back alot more than usual. He was lying on his chest and trying to breath slowly as Xianghua changed his bandages._

_Kilik on the other hand was rowing the raft they were stuck on with a single paddle, taking them to someplace even he didn't know. After all they were stuck at sea; and had no idea where land was. 'This just seems so hopeless. I don't see any-'_

_"Kilik, do you think he'll make it? This wound on his back is getting worse..." She commented, looking over the sever wound plaging Maxi. Kilik just continued rowing, but even she could tell how worried he was by his expression. After years of being beside him she could read the silent bo master like a book._

_"Xianghua, don't worry. We'll get him better. I'm not gonna lose another friend to that sword's power." His determination was sound in her ears; She never thought twice against his word. To her he was like a dog would would always be loyal to the people he cares for._

_Just as she was thinking this, Kilik noticed something. There was land just up ahead of them; there were boats right by the port, and people conversing while being there. Xianghua just finished fixing Maxi's new bandages when she started noticing the port before them. Her face showed an expression of relief and joy, now glad that she can kiss the life at sea goodbye for now. Xianghua grabbed the second oar they had and along with Kilik paddled towards land._

_Upon reaching shore they were surrounded by up to two people who were watching them hit land. As Kilik looked up at them, he became quick to notice that each person was wearing a kimono and hakama, which is something normally seen in Asia and other Eastern continents. Standing up and walking out of the boat Xianghua and Kilik carried Maxi on their backs._

_One Hour Later..._

_Maxi was laid backwards on a futon, his chest exposed while he breathed slowly. Xianghua and Kilik were standing beside him, as a woman in another kimono held a tray full of food on it. "Here you go. I hope your friend heals up."_

_"Oh. Arigatou yo." Xianghua said back, as she bowed then left the room, sliding the door back then forth. The asian fighter then sat on the wooden floor of the house they were in, as Kilik looked outside._

_"So we're in Japan...which town is this?" Kilik's eyes then searched the landscape outside of the building, and discovered the many people who were working and such, pulling weeds, carrying baskets and bags, and other stuff._

_"Dunno. I'm not really familiar with this specific Japanese village." Xianghua said in iritation. The way Kilik said that it was like she knew everything that there was to know about asians. He realized the look she delivered him and found himself sweating._

_"Uh, you ok?"_

_"I'm fine. I'm still just worried over Maxi. I fear he might never wake up." She half-lied, trying to change the subject quickly yet calmly. Kilik turned around and looked at his friend still unconscious on the floor. He seemed peaceful for a minute, til a red aura was seen eminating off of him. Both Kilik and Xianghua went down to his level to try and help him, but found that he was untouchable by their hands._

_"Damn! What is this!?" She cursed, rubbing her hands from the burns she sustained from touching the evil energy. Kilik ignored his injuries like the macho man he was, and looked at Maxi like he knew what was going on._

_Soon the evil aura spiraled into the air, leaving his body and flying off through the doors and off into the sky. No one knows where it would go. Kilik's eyes had left Maxi to watch the aura leave him the same way Xianghua did, but then noticed something was happening to the pirate. His eyes began squinting a bit, then slowly opened up. The lids closed back down due to the sunlight, but after a while of getting use to it they opened back up. Maxi sat up straight like he just got up from a nap and looked at both his two friends._

_Kilik was gaping in slight perplexity while Xianghua was crying slightly. "You're back. Thank goodness!" She cried out._

_After shifting his eyes between both her and Kilik, Maxi then did something they truly didn't expect from him; he hugged them. This caught both of them by surprise, as they knew Maxi to be one who never did something like this. Kilik then asked, "Maxi, what is it?"_

_"...I'm sorry." The pirate spoke bitterly. His voice was hoarse but sad, like he just came back to life and was regretting something terribly. "I left you guys back in that castle alone and forgot all about it."_

_"Wha-wait, you remember now? You regained your memories of us?" Kilik asked him. Xianghua was amazed by this new information, but glad to hear he remembers them once again. Maxi then removed himself from the two._

_"I do now. It all came back to me like a rushing flood while I was out; the times we spent together, the places we traveled finding Soul Edge, even the battles we faced. I remember everything now." Maxi confessed, then turned around from facing them._

_"And I'm sorry for ever having forgotten about it. You guys were my only friends after my crew was slaughtered by that freak, and I forgotten about it. I don't believe I can ever show my faces to you guys..." Maxi's sorrow was shown tenfold throughout his heart to heart. Kilik could tell the sadness he was expressing with Xianghua slowly showing tears she didn't want to wipe away. "Can you guys ever forgive me?"_

_There was an erie silence afterwards, one that could make even the most experienced psychics become tense enough to pale. Maxi was sure that they would either leave to think about it or say no in a matter of seconds. What he got instead was a light pat on his shoulders. Using peripheral vision he spotted two hands on said parts of his body. He turned around quickly and saw both Kilik and Xianghua smiling._

_"Huh? You're both ok with it?!" Maxi asked in surprise. He was half expecting to be scolded or something he would come to regret later on._

_"Maxi, it's ok. We both know you would never forget about us like that. You'd think you would've known us enough to believe otherwise." Xianghua stated, then moved her head into Kilik's direction. "Isn't that right darling?"_

_'Darling?' Kilik ignored the sweet name he was given. "Maxi, you're our comrad. We've been through many things together. Why would something like memory loss make us think little of you? Afterall it was all an accident. We can live with that."_

_"You guys..." Maxi muttered to himself, closing his eyes and smiling with that 'thank god' look on his face. Of course he hid it with his tough guy facade but his two comrads could see through it. "Sure."_

_"Hmm. Just don't ever say something so pathetic ever again. It doesn't suit you." Kilik said, turning his vision away from Maxi not. The pirate gripped his friend's collars and turned him to face him._

_"What's that?! You callin' me pathetic!?"_

_"Only because it's true!!" Kilik yelled back._

_"Idiots..." Xianghua complained, slapping her forehead and rubbing her temples due to them bringing her annoyance._

_Two Days Later..._

_"So you went to a priest after meeting us?" Kilik asked his male friend as he, Maxi and Xianghua were walking through town. Each one was holding a stick with dango on them while listening to what Maxi did after his fight with Astaroth and before he met Link and Cassandra._

_"Exactly. A few days later I discovered that Astaroth was still alive somehow and went out to finish him for good. Only problem was, hold on..." Maxi took a bite out of one of the dango pieces stuck to the wooden stick, then swallowed it. "...anyway I couldn't head out immediately because my wounds were still holding me back."_

_"Oh, so you waited them off? How does this have anything to do with your amnesia?" Xianghua asked, now chewing on her dango like a hungry orphan. "These are delicious!"_

_"I went to that same priest again so I could heal faster, and he did heal me completely, but since my wounds came from a weapon plagued by Soul Edge's power I felt weird afterwards. And that's when I realized I had no memory of who helped me defeat him back then, you guys I mean."_

_"I guess that makes sense. A priest's holy powers added with Soul Edge's evil energy would only cause severe damage to a person. It happened once before." Kilik mused out loud, as the others nodded in agreement. He then proceeded to picking his molars with his stick. "The thing we need to ask ourselves now is what should we do now? Should we continue our journey and search for Soul Edge in memory of Link and Cassandra, or ignore the blade and try to destroy whoever possesses it?"_

_The trio began to pause and think over that. They couldn't ignore Soul Edge and go back to their normal lives seeing how deep they've gotten into it. Even if someone else killed the current wielder of Soul Edge and the sword itself the shards would still cause a problem. And for Maxi he knew sure enough that he cannot let the deaths of Link and Cassandra go off unavenged. The answer was simple._

_"We destroy the owner and the sword." They all said in unison, and bit on a dango dumpling at once. Maxi had suddenly dropped his stick, and the dumpling in his mouth, when he saw what was before him. Both Xianghua and Kilik had seen this and both had no idea what was bugging him, until they noticed it as well;_

_There was a man dressed in a Noh mask with purple clothing and a samurai flag on his back. He was missing an arm and had a katana around his waist. MAxi didn't need to think twice to know who this was. "Yoshimitsu!"_

_The renowned samurai soon realized his name was called out, and turned towards the trio, only to discover that one of them he knew. Everyone who was caught in between the two groups noticed this and began to watch. "You! So here you were!"_

_"You're not here for a rematch, are ya? Cause we ain't got your arm or your shards!" Maxi shouted back, pulling out his nun chuks. Xianghua and Kilik turned to the battle-ready Maxi._

_"You know this henta-kun(weirdo)?" Xianghua asked the pirate. He nodded in agreement to her question._

_"Of course; he possessed the first shard we went after back when I was with Link and Cassandra. He was one of Ganondorf's men and almost succeeded in killing us if Link and some monster named Spawn took him out. Spawn then stole the shard in his wooden arm and his sword and vanished." Maxi explained, before Yoshimitsu held his arms up before him, swinging wildly._

_"No, no, no, no! You got it all wrong! I was possessed!" The masked fighter spoke in reassurance. After hearing this Maxi lowered his guard and his weapon._

_"What do you mean possessed?"_

_Sushi Bar..._

_The group three and Yoshimitsu had entered a sushi bar to continue the confrontation, I mean conversation. Right now the three fighters were eating wiggly octopus legs, shrimp, or chicken on noodles, after finishing their dango. Of course Yoshimitsu wasn't eating, saving his money for later._

_"So what do you mean by being possessed?" Maxi asked through chewing his shrimp. Yoshimitsu looked at what use to be his right arm._

_"I use to be a lone bandit going around doing good deeds for other people. Me and my sword Yoshimitsu were one of a kind, and celebrated by many...until the day I met him. Ganondorf gave me a piece of Soul Edge six months ago and everything has changed." He said, looking around from the others now. Kilik slurped up some noodles which still chewing chicken._

_"Wait six months? That's around the same time we found Link, wasn't it?" Kilik asked Xianghua, who was swallowing moving octopus tentacles._

_"Yeah it was. Tell us more, Yoshimitsu." Xianghua said, picking up another tentacle with a pair of chopsticks. Maxi though was using his the wrong way, twirling the noodles around one stick with the other._

_"The minute that shard was placed within my arm I felt wrong. It was like, someone else was making my actions. I only realized this through the many times I found myself slaughtering an entire village for a second piece of Soul Edge. This continued on for several months, until I met you and those two that day..." Yoshimitsu said, pointing at Maxi. He was still trying to get the chopsticks to work._

_"Dammit! Yeah, eating with sticks is fuckin' cool-you know what else is cool?! Eating with FORKS AND SPOONS!!" He yelled in a frantic howl. Soon the entire bar was staring at him, leaving Kilik and Xianghua to claim not being with him._

_"...wait a minute. Now that I think about it, that long ears isn't with you nor is that delectable greek." Yoshimitsu claimed, searching for both Link and Cassandra. Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua both looked down in a shameful manner, almost like they were regreting something. "What?"_

_"We...look, that's not really important now. You can say they were caught on another journey." Kilik said, which prompted the others to agree. Yoshi was slightly suspicious._

_"Would this be a journey to the afterlife?" Yoshimitsu's comment was really not helpful to the three, pertaining to the fact that Maxi had snapped his sticks in half. "Am I right?"_

_"Look, just go on with your story! What else happened!?" Xianghua was desperate to change the subject as quick as he could, seeing how Maxi was close to those two. Maxi had calmed himself down though, and proceeded to eating with his hands. The animal!_

_"That's all there is. With Yoshimitsu broken," He then draws his katana, revealing half of a broken blade. " and Ganondorf's control over me gone I've gone back to my freelancing, odd-jobs career."_

_"So it seems this Ganondorf is the main problem. We'll have to find him first and get rid of him. Then afterwards we can search for the shards one by one." Xianghua planned while eating more of her octopus legs. Kilik was slightly grossed out._

_"Oi, how can you eat that stuff? It's still moving." He commented on her food, and its limited mobility. His asian fiance only laughed._

_"Fish do this hours after they're dead. It's a nerve reaction."_

_"But...octopus aren't fish. They're part of the multipod family and-"_

_"That's not the point!"_

_"Then be more specific!"_

_"Where did you last meet Ganondorf?" Maxi asked Yoshimitsu, ignoring the argument being made by Xianghua and Kilik._

_"Well, it was somewhere in Greece. I believe it to be Athens." This confirmation was all that Maxi needed._

_"Hmm. So there's a chance he could be there...then we'll take it." Maxi then stuffed more food into his mouth with his hands. This obviously disgusted Yoshi._

_"Yuck, use a utensil you barbarian!"_

_"MINE BROKE!"_

_"So you're saying something that isn't wielding gills and fins can't be a fish?! What about jellfish?"_

_"Jellyfish aren't edible!!"_

_Someplace Else Ten Minutes Later..._

_"Alright everyone, we're gonna raid this village and this time spare no one!" A man dressed in pirate clothing spoke. This captain and his crew stood on a mid-sized caravel pirate ship, with red sails and a black skull._

_The pirates made a bellowing cheer as they made port. As the crew docked and jumped onto the beach they were surprised to find three people standing before them. They were Kilik, Maxi and Xianghua._

_"You think we can take their boat and sail to Greece in it?" Maxi asked the others. Kilik began to spin his Kali Yuga in the air, preparing for a fight somehow._

_"That depends if Greece is connected to the ocean. If not we'll get as close as possible and walk the rest of the way." Xianghua stated as the pirates began to charge them. It seems they realized what the trio were implying and prepared for a brawl they would never forget._

_59 Seconds Later..._

_"That was too easy. Let's get a move on." Kilik told the others, climbing up on the ropes of the ship. Followed behind were Xianghua and Maxi, the latter of which looked back and spat at the injured bodies on the sandy field. "Next stop; Athens, or wherever this boat takes us."_

_End Flashback..._

"After we hit land we continued on foot on our journey until we came to here. And that's when we discovered you two were alive." Kilik finished his story, leaving Link and Cassandra somewhat jaw-dropped.

"You met that freak!?" Link practically yelled. Maxi expected this and sighed.

"Yes we did. So what? It's not like he meant to hurt us that time. You heard the story; he was controlled." Maxi spoke calmly, showing the smallest effect of the surprise more than anyone even though he was there fighting him. Link and Cassy soon pacified enough to return to normal.

"Well you guys are alive, and that's all that matters in the end. Let's continue with the journey together." Link said with a smile. Cassandra nodded to that and followed him, as did Taki and Spawn who remained silent the entire time.

Xianghua then said, "Still being the leader after all this time," strikingly surprised that Link somehow became the group captain once again. Kilik sighed in a bleak manner trying to figure out how Link constantly does it.

"Maxi, what do you feel about Link's constant way of becoming a leader?" Kilik asked his male friend, then noticed he wasn't where he was. "Maxi?"

He looked ahead and saw the guy moving on ahead beside the red ninja. "What the hell is with him," the bo master asked himself, then heard laughter coming from Xianghua. The two then decided to join up with them before they were left behind.

Later That Day...

"I can't believe we're camping out." Mumbled Cassandra, lying on top of a rock. She and the others, who were sitting around a fire, had decided to camp out for the night after leaving the last town.

Link turned to her. "Cassy calm down. It's just one night. We'll reach the cathedral in the morning," then pulled a stick out from the fire with a smoked fish attached to it. He causiously took a bite out of it, hoping not to burn his tongue.

"Link, don't eat those! They aren't fully done yet," was what Maxi told him as he ate. But Link didn't seem to mind it though.

"No, no, no! It's best this way. If they cook all the way instead of 80 percent then they'll taste dry," Link commented, feasting on his fish some more. The others had nothing to argue about that, and each took a fish on a stick except Maxi. "Hey, where's Al, I mean Spawn?"

Xianghua looked up in the trees and saw Spawn lying on a branch. "Oi, Kuro-chan! You plan on joining us?!"

"I don't eat." The Hellspawn stated, not bother to look at her. Xianghua made a pouty face while staring at him.

"What a loser. He'll never have friends with that attitude..." She commented, and didn't notice that Link had stolen her unbitten fish. He then snuck over away from the group and sat beside Cassandra.

"Here. You can have some too." He said, believing she should enjoy food as well. She looked up to him and smiled, reaching over to his hand to claim the fish for herself. But as she reached for it her hand felt onto his own. Blushing she quickly took it away, staring away from him and leaving the Hylian blushing and confused.

Kilik and Taki had noticed this sudden show of effections, and felt a little concern about their feelings. Taki then whispered in his ear, and told him to pass it on. And that is what he did; telling Xianghua, who told Maxi, a plan they'll be putting into place.

"Well, I'm taking a leak. You comin' Xianghua?" Kilik asked his fiance, rising up from the grass surrounding the fire. The asian girl rose up as well, and the two went off. Link seemed suspicious by the sudden outburst in wanting to leave, then thought; since when do girls pee next to guys?

"I'll go scout the area for enemies. Who knows who'll be around?" Taki stated, disappearing before their very eyes. Cassandra thought this to be weird as well. Both her and Link turned to face Maxi.

"Are you leaving too?" They both asked him, who felt sweat coming down his face.

"Uh, yeah! I lost a shoe!" He shouted suddenly, bringing Link to look down at his feet. Both shoes were on his feet.

"Uh, you're wearing both shoes though." Maxi then took off a shoe and threw it far into the woods. He then ran after it, causing the two left alone to sweat drop at his actions.

They soon began to realize they were alone, except for Spawn but he was asleep. Cassandra then walked to the fire, wanting to be away from Link. 'We're alone now...should I tell him?'

"Link, there's something I need to say, and I want to tell you quickly before we're distracted again..." Cassandra said while looking up at him. She seems to have something eating away at her soul for her to say it like this.

Link blinks before staring dauntingly at her. "Cassandra, can I say this first? I believe it's important that I speak my mind before."

'Important?' Cassandra thought as she tried to imagine what could be so important for him to say that...then the thought of him finally confessing came to her mind. 'Wait, is he going to confess his feelings for me?!' Her cheeks went red in hopes that he says what she has been waiting for.

"This may be the last time we'll see eachother alive, so I wish to tell you this soon before it's too late." He stated first, causing Cassandra to lose her ability to smile.

Link begins his confession. "Cassandra, in the time I've come to know you I've grown attached to you. You've become like a pleasant friend of mine who knows how to comfort me especially. I see you as a wonderful person, and a beautiful comrad." His words caused Cassandra to blush, growing a shade of red across her face. It was more visible above her nose and below her eyes.

"Link, are you-"

"Compared to you no other woman besides Zelda has stolen my affections. You're her exact opposite yet I find you to be magnificent." His poured out affections has caused her heart to flutter and her blush to grow even more red.

'He loves me?! Can it be so true!?' She thinks to herself in joy. She was about to jump on him and confess her feelings when Link continued. "But, this leads to a problem..."

"Huh? What kind of problem?"

"...this journey to capture Soul Edge, for me, will never be over, not as long as Ganondorf's still alive.

I'm the Hero of Time, and it took me the death of my wife for me to discover I cannot keep this title and live a peaceful life. I also cannot move on in life without Ganondorf's death. How can I live the rest of my life in happiness, when I can't avenge the death of Zelda?

So...I'm sorry." His words caused Cassandra's heart to break in two, bringing her to realize he cannot love her because he still loves his deseased wife. It pains her to hear that she is second place to someone who is dead.

Link felt so guilty over his words he couldn't face her. "I'm sorry to have you hear that. Alth-"

"It's ok. I understand it all. I don't feel bad at all." She lied through her white closed teeth. She was actually hurting deep inside herself, and tears were slowly coming through her eyes. There was no way Cassy could look at him now. "After all, it's not as if I wished you would love me..."

The silent between them was a hard diamond that couldn't even be cut. Link felt his heart snap from saying what he had to. It was like he had caused her a great deal of pain, and he was receiving three times as much of what she was feeling. Soon she stood up, still unable to look at him.

"I'm gonna go find the others. It's not like them to be gone this-"

"I'M NOT DONE TALKING!" Link yelled at her, grasping her attention. He then whispers to himself. "Sheesh, no wonder your sister calls you a sloth; you don't pay attention to important things!"

"What more is there to say?! You don't love me! My entire time was wasted on a simple-"

"That's not it either. What I wish to say is something that is more important than earlier...Someday, this battle of mine with Ganondorf will soon end, and her death wouldn't be a waste...Afterwards I'll finally be able to live my life without doubt or regret." He then turns to face the blond woman finally. She looks back at him, and both discover that the other had tears in their eyes.

"If I somehow live long enough to see his death, would you mind, if I could spend what little life I might have left with you..." She wasn't planning to give her hopes up yet, but she really wanted to.

His eyes turned away from hers, almost feeling ashamed about what he will say next. "...and held you in my arms as your husband?"

Those last words brought herself back to a happy state. Inside it felt like something soldered her heart back together, and it began to beat with excitement and love like before. He loves her! He really loves her! More tears inudated out from her eyes, and found herself onto her knees crying her heart out. Link rose up to his feet and ran to her side. He bowed down to her in an effort to help her up. "Cassandra, are you-"

She rose up quickly and pressed her lips onto his own, kissing him with as much love and care as she could muster. It took a few seconds for Link to realize it was a kiss to return it tenfold, kissing her back with greater love and passion than she could muster. To her it was magic! To him it was somewhere close. She placed her arms around him, rubbing up against his back and pulling herself closer to him. He pulled her waist up close to his own, the kiss still going on.

In the bushes the two were unaware that they were being watched. Xianghua, Maxi, Taki and Kilik were all watching the two fighters kiss eachother, realizing that she might have accepted his proposal. "How romantic...instead of just confessing his love for her he proposed! I never doubted him for a minute!"

"Liar. You were about to run out there and beat the shit out of him, Xianghua." Kilik stated, causing Xianghua to look at him in rage. Taki was somehow looking at the ground in a daze.

"She's a lucky girl. I wish I had a man with as much passion for their friends as Link..." Taki spoke, sounding depressed for a reason. Maxi noticed this and felt somewhat sympathetic towards her. Spawn, the only one not spying on Link and Cassy through bushes was still in the tree asleep.

Soon Link pulled away from Cassandra, and stared into her beautiful emerald eyes. "So, is that a yes? You'll marry me when this is done, regardless of my past and my life as a warrior?"

"Link, I love you. There's no way I wouldn't want to be with you...but you must promise me one thing." She began, rubbing her nose on his own when beginning the second part of her sentence.

"Anything for you."

"You must promise me, that after we're wed, you'll hang up your sword and never pick it up again, except to protect others and yourself. Never wield your weapons for personal gains and lessen your life." She proposed to him, then placed her head on his left shoulder by his neck.

"...sure. I'll give up the life of a hero." He said, kissing her back. The passionate kiss made her smile with joy and love, and upon removal she found herself kissing the air. It was as if she didn't know he had left her lips. "Cassandra, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Cassy asked, finally snapping out of the kiss' after-effects. "We find Soul Edge, destroy it, and kill Ganondorf together."

"I meant the fire." Link spoke, looking down at the campfire they made. It seems sparks had ignited the grass around it, causing the fire to spread more. Cassandra freaked, then took her shield to try and put the fire out. Link just stood by laughing.

"Don't just sit there! This fire might spread even more!" With aid from her request Link rose up and started to put the fire out with his foot. It was soon out, and the couple were left sitting by the campfire. Both sat side by side, and began to laugh.

Their laughing began to cease when Cassandra placed her arms around him. She then straddled her legs around him, and kissed him deeply. After the kiss she placed her head on his chest, slowly faling asleep.

"What about the others? What do you think they'll say if they see us like this?" He asked her, thinking the others might not take their position well.

"Who gives a shit? All that matters, is that I love you." She proclaimed, falling asleep in his arms. Link did as well, lying with his back against a log.

"I love you too." He whispered to her, kissing the woman's forehead. Link soon followed her into the realm of dreams, unaware of his four friends rising up from the bushes and joining the campfire.

Later That Night...

Back at the campfire everyone was fast asleep, with the fire out and all of them restoring their energy for the upcoming day. Spawn seems to have stared atleast half awake, as he was up against the tree he was in with his eyes glowing. He could obviously be watching for danger.

Link slowly opened his eyes up, then rose up from where he sat. He let Cassandra off of him, placing her beside him so he could move. The Hylian then stood up, and walked on with a drowsy yawn.

"Link, where are you going?" Spawn asked the elf, catching Link's attention.

"Just going to take a piss. Be back soon." Link then trods off into the dark forest, grabbing his sword and shield for some reason. Spawn watched as he disappeared into the dark, then turned his attention back to the others.

With Link he was peeing behind a tree a few feet away from the group. He was just about done when he heard a voice. Turning behind him he saw something flying towards him. It resembled a small, golden orb of light. The light floated away, heading deeper into the forest.

"Is it calling me to follow it?" Link asked himself, following the tiny object into the darkness. As he tracked the thing he was quick to realize that suddenly the forest around him was suddenly a bit brighter compared to earlier, like daylight was upon him. But that was impossible for the moon was still in the sky and the sun was nowhere to be found.

As Link traveled across the forest after the tiny orb of light he saw that bones were visible around his feet. Stepping on one it instantly broke under pressure. It was like they were too old. "Why are human bones here?"

And that's when he saw it: a wooden well in the center of the pile of bones. Link walked over to the well, looking down inside it. Link took a skull from the ground and dropped it inside the well. He waited for the skull to impact the bottom, but after waiting a while he figured that there was no bottom. "Guess it would be stupid for me to check this abyss."

Link then turns around to leave, when a ghostly image appears before him and spooks the poor Hylian. The spooked boy fell backwards into the well, cursing whatever tricked him into falling. He held his hand up in a failed attempt to try and save himself, but even he knew he was too far down to reach the branch. As he fell everything around him began to glow dark purple and blue, with starlike lights glowing around him. He soon touched the ground below, right when the lights disappeared.

What surprised him even more was that he didn't feel any pain from crashing onto the ground. The Hylian rose up to his feet with ease, wiping his pants from the dirt he gathered upon compact with the ground. Looking up he saw a light up above him, and began to climb up the vines surrounding the inside. 'Not as bottomless as I thought.' He thought to himself, not seeing the skull he had dropped earlier.

He finally reached the top of the well, mumbling about how troublesome this entire situation was. 'That damn light probably did that to me! I'll crush it to particles next time I see it!'

By the time he reaches the top he discovers that the sun is up. "Huh?! Wasn't it nighttime just a while ago?"

"Run for your lives!!" A voice screamed out. Link turned to his right and saw a throng of people running away from something it seems. Link stepped before the crowd to try and ask them questions.

"Uh, excuse me! I need to-" He tried to ask, but his requests were ignored easily. He was soon all alone, save a few people who were still running, from a dust cloud.

Link gasped in shock when he saw some large red ogre with an axe appear from the dust. It swung its weapon around, cleaving two slow people in half. Blood splattered across the ground, and all over the ogre's body. Link grabbed his sword's hilt, then pulled it out. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but I can't ignore this!"

Link rushed after the monster, sword ready to cleave it to pieces. The ogre was about to cut another person into pieces, when Link came before him and blocked the vertical slash with his shield. Link grunted as he tried to push it back, surprising the ogre and whoever wasn't killed by him. "Who the hell are you!?"

"Get out of here now!" Link yelled to the people, who didn't hesitate to listen to him. Link finally was able to push the ogre's axe back.

"I don't know who you are, but you better stay out of my way if you don't want to be my next meal!" The demon shouted, towering over Link in an attempt to bring fear to the warrior.

"Kiss my ass! Who are you, and where the hell am I?!" Link held his sword in a stabbing position, then thrusted his blade forward at the ogre's throat. It simply grabbed Link's blade to prevent it from touching him, but was still cut by the sharp sword. Smoke began to emit from the monster's hand, as if the sword was a potent poison to it. It released the sword quickly and swung its axe down at Link, who jumped up and out of danger, wielding his Master Sword above his head.

As Link descended down to him he slashed down at the ogre, aiming to cleave its head in two. But as he made the slash the sword somehow released a bright blue light from its sharp edge. The light took the form of a large beam, with what Link could tell contains rainbow starlights within. The attack reduced the ogre to dust, leaving its screams as the only thing it could say before its death.

Link landed on the ground and somehow became slightly tired. 'It's the same attack. The one I used against Cervantes...but it looked different, and I don't feel as worn out as before-'

"HOORAY!!" Was the next thing Link heard, before he was lifted into the air by the tons of hands that grabbed him. They catapulted him up into the air, almost as if they were celebrating his triumph. He was getting sick though...

'I'm gonna hurl if this continues...'

And he did.

_End Chapter..._

Kenshin: Well that was anti-climatic...wait, what?  
Haou: And with that, the third arc of A Love Forged has ended. Next chapter will begin the fourth arc to this fanfic. Let's hope we get to finish before 2009.

Kenshin: That's my line! Anyway, let's end this chapter and start the preview.  
Haou: Next chapter you'll discover where Link was sent, why there was a monster there, and what will happen to Cassandra and the others.


	13. Trapped in The Demon World!

_**A Love Forged By Souls and Swords**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda.

Kenshin: Last chapter wasn't so popular. I wish more people liked this story, we do so much editing and planning on it.  
Haou: So you're saying this is Space Hero's favorite love story made by him? What about Angel Eyes or Echo?

Kenshin:...He's not that much of a fan of Naruto, and only reads them...and I can understand that.  
Haou: Time to start the chapter, and the beginning of the Demon World arc.

_**

* * *

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Chapter 13: Three Warriors Trapped in The Demon World!

Taki was silently sleeping away from the others, sleeping on the side of a tree for certain purposes. Her dream was rather strange; It consisted of her surrounded by many guys, all of them including her naked.

She sat on a bed with golden sheets while being fanned by two nude males, with another feeding her grapes. The red ninja seem to be enjoying her dream, then grew incredibly aroused when she saw another nude man coming up to her. This person happen to be Maxi, who was just as on as she was.

She flicked her fingers, signalling her fanners to stop blowing and leave her be. Maxi laid down on top of her and began to kiss her. Taki was just about to meet his lips when suddenly Maxi turned into Spawn, fully clothed I might add. He kept telling her, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Outside her dreams she opened her eyes to see Spawn staring at her. "Huh?! Spawn!?"

"Shush." Spawn holds a finger to his...where his lips would be, and points to the trees far ahead. Taki looked up and saw that multiple red eyes were staring at the group, and approaching quickly.

"Taki, wake the others and we'll make a break for it. I'll stall them." Spawn spoke, his cape released from wherever it was hiding behind his neck. Taki picked up Mekkimaru and Rekkimaru and nodded in agreement.

Taki then ran to Maxi, shaking him awake by his shoulders. The buff fighter opened his eyes and looked up at her, blinking twice and wondering what she woke him up for. She silences him and points to where Spawn is. The demonic warrior had his cape create an illusion around them and prevent the demon eyed intruders from seeing the group.

"Wake Cassandra and Link while I get-" Taki first pointed at where Link and Cassy slept, but only saw the latter silent against a log. "Where'd he go?"

"We'll deal with that later. Right now we wake the others." Maxi rises up to his feet and rushes towards Cassandra, shaking her shoulders in an attempt to wake the girl while Taki took care of Kilik and Xianghua.

The two opened their eyes and began to question the situation, but after seeing all the blood shot eyes staring at them they were rather quick to ingest what is going on. Xianghua picked up her nameless sword and rose slowly, with Kilik hoisting Kali Yuga and getting ready for whatever. Cassandra opened her eyes upon Maxi waking her up, and noticed immediately something was wrong.

"Where's Link?" She asks him all of a sudden, prompting Maxi to feel sweat coming down his face. Cassandra felt like she was gonna panic when she noticed Link wasn't up and around with the others either. She was about to call out for him, when Maxi clasped her mouth shut with his right hand.

"No shouting. They don't think we're still here," Maxi whispered to her, to which she nodded in agreement. But she looked up into his eyes and tried to communicate with him through stares alone. Of course this was a retarded thing to do, but Maxi had a feeling what she wanted to ask. "Sorry, I don't know where he is, but he'll show up eventually. I bet ya."

He then released his grip on her mouth, allowing her to talk now. Cassandra tried her best to keep her mind off of Link's disappearance, and grabbed her weapons to get ready for battle. But her heart was still set on finding out what happened to him, for she always worried about him and if he were ever to leave her side forever would shatter her like a mirror dropped on a boulder.

"Go, now!!" Spawn yelled, having the figures wielding red eyes to leap after him due to his voice being shouted out. After coming into the clearing it is revealed that the figures were anthropomorphic lizards with swords and shields. Spawn dispelled the illusion casted on by his cape, revealing a lit campsight void of people.

Spawn's cape then morphed into an axe. "So, that bastard Ganondorf sent these freaks to deal with us?"

The lizardmen descended below after Spawn, getting themselves ready to fulfill their long stressed goal; killing everyone in sight.

With Cassandra, Maxi and the others they were escaping from the group of red eyes that were following them, trying as best as they can to lose the freaks. One of the Lizardmen jumped out from the bushes and got in front of the group, prompting them to prepare for battle as more surrounded them. Taki was slightly surprised, saying, "How did they catch up with us? And what are these things?"

"Who gives a shit!? Let's get rid of them so we can find Link!" Cassnadra roared, her determination to find her beloved fiance more important than the frightened feeling she had from the sight of these drooling reptiles. On her person was also Link's special weapons which were his Clawshot and bow and arrow set. Taki was holding his boomerang and Maxi carried his bombs.

The first Lizardman in front of them leaped after them with its shield held up and sword ready for a slash. Cassandra ducked under a horizontal slash made for her, then pushed his shield out of her way with her own. This left his chest exposed, to which she took advantage of by impaling the monster with her brand new weapon.

The Lizardman cried out in pain, blood shooting out of its mouth as it collapsed onto the ground. Cassandra pulls her sword out from its chest then swings out of nowhere, removing the blood from the sword. Taki and Maxi stares at her in shock and amazement; it seems as if this was their first time seeing Cassandra fighting with a bold and stern disposition. It was like she was a whole-nother person.

A second and third Lizardman jumped at the group, to which Cassy turned in order to face them. But instead of her taking them on Kilik and Xianghua fought them. In an instance the two jabbed the heel of their feet into the opposing Lizardmen's faces. As they were knocked down this forced the rest to take action. Soon they were all fighting, inaffectively keeping the warriors at bay.

In the heat of the battle Maxi and Taki were somehow split from the rest of the others, and were running through the forest to lead a couple of Lizardmen away from the rest. Of course Taki was ahead of him but it's to be expected; ninjas are trained for speed and pirates aren't. As they ran the clearing soon became brighter, like the sun had just so happened to appear at that time. 'Is it morning already?' Taki thought, then looked up at the sky. She saw the moon still out and the sun no where in sight.

"What is this place?" Maxi asked himself, shifting his head left and right to check out the scenary. He was so into the sight of where they were that he didn't notice a well in front of him. The pirate fell down face first and plummeted inside, wondering how he didn't see it in the first place.

Taki made her landing on soft ground from the tree she was leaping off of and looked down the well Maxi fell through. She tried to see down there, and noticed that he wasn't there. "Maxi? Are you there?! Maxi?!"

No response. This brought a bit of fear in her heart. "What happened to him? He's gone!"

Just as she was distracted by the sudden disappearance of Maxi someone slammed a wooden staff on the back of her head. She was knocked unconscious and then got pushed into the well by the wielder of the staff; an old man in sage clothing. The old man snickered weirdly, and floated in the air.

The Lizardmen chasing after the two warriors gathered around the well next to him, who drifted slowly into the well. As he disappeared from sight a purple bubble appeared around the well, which would prevent them from entering and exiting.

* * *

Other World...

"So, where am I again?" Link asked an old lady who was sitting before him. This woman was dressed in priestess clothing and both were inside a messhall of some sort with people of the village eating rice and meat.

"You are from the other side of the well, are you not? Then you must be a Ryoka." The woman spoke in a scarce, yet wise voice. It was like she was talking down to him.

Link though didn't know what that was. "I have no idea what a Ryoka is, but-"

The old woman grabbed his left ear and took a look at it. "But I must say, all the intelligent lifeforms in that world are human. Yet, I sense no demonic presence within you so you can't be a demon."

"...well let's just SAY there was a third world beyond this and the one on the other side of that well, and I was born there." Link spoke, slapping away her hand from his ear.

"Oh, you're a Hylian; very rare to come upon!" The woman shouted in shock, causing the other people still eating to look up and stare at Link in awe.

"A Hylian!"

"No wonder he's so strong!"

"How did he come here?!" These were just some of the words that came out of their mouths, that Link could understand.

Link just looked back at the old woman. "Look, old woman I need you to tell me just what the hell is going on here. What is this world, why was I lured here, and how do you people have knowledge of my kin?!"

The old woman mused for a minute about how to tell this to Link...at his level, though it didn't take long for her to begin. "This world is an alternate world parallel to yours, like a shadow. While your side is light, ours is darkness."

"Darkness?" Link didn't quite understand her, but then again he wasn't good at this whole plot-line thing.

"Yes. All the evil that would appear in your world would have come through this world, and all the good in ours comes from yours. Only our side knows everything about your world, but noone from this side can go through the well and go to your world."

Link nodded in acknowledgement, understanding at least that much. To him this world was just a shadow of Earth, and to him he figured the only way back is down the rabbit hole again. "Ok, I get that. But this place doesn't look any different from the world I'm from."

"...It isn't any different. But our world does contain a multitude of demons and evil humans wanting to cross over and conquer that world...the only one able to cross over was a living embodiment of hell. He was Infe-" She haulted herself from talking anymore, to which Link stared at her perplexed face. Was she about to say something she shouldn't have?

The old woman then regained her composure and said, "Anyway, my name is Eve. I don't know how you came to find this place, but I implore you to leave this world and head back to your own."

Link blinked. "Huh? Why must I leave? I mean, yeah I need to go back anyway, but what has you so riled up and so into making me go?"

"...the ogre from before was one of the weaker demons you'll probably meet here; a C-class." Eve began to inform Link of the dangers of this world, and why his escape was imminent.

"C-class?"

"All demons are ranked by classes; D, C, B, A, S, and Z." The woman held up a scroll, showing all the classes of demons from D to Z. "D class are the weakest ones you'll meet; nothing but mindless and weak fools who attack others with no accord and are shaped like long insects and worms. A D class can only become stronger by engulfing numerous other Ds, but only in rare cases.

C class demons are slightly stronger than C class. They have defining shape, little if at all no intelligence, and grotesque bodies that are easily detectable by humans. Only the C class with the greatest intelligence amongst his peers will have the smarts to devour his brethren and grow stronger.

B class are smarter and stronger forms of C class demons. While C class cannot morph themselves, B class can call upon the ability of mimicry and turn into a human form. But even these are still odd and terrible, very easy to discern from humans. Through training or natural skill do B class evolve.

A class are some of the strongest demons there are. These are more dangerous simply by the fact that they've mastered mimicry and can turn into a perfect human form. All A class have powers only expert demon slayers, priests, and warriors endowed with spiritual powers can defeat. An A class though has to make sure to devour humans once a year in order to keep their bodies from deteriorating.

S class are the strongest demons there are, and are the most frightening of them all. S class surpass even the strongest of humans and can lay waste to 40 villages in a single week. But these aren't mindless fools who conveniently kill for fun; infact they live as the governors of this world althought there are only two left now. Even Hylians are powerless against them...

Did you understand everything I said?"

"...A little." Link spoke, astonished at how much info there is about demons. How this woman knows about demons so much was out of his grasp. "But you still didn't tell me about how you know so much of Hyrule."

"...That is for another time. For now all you should know is that Hyrule was a part of this world."

"What!?" Link shouted out, causing the messhall to jump away in shock. One person slipped onto spilt meat, falling flat on his face. His bowl went soaring into the sky and towards Link.

Almost instinctively Link turned around to catch whatever was coming his way, but ended up with a face of food.

The mess hall was never quieter...

* * *

Ten Minutes Later...

Link has freed his face of continents that haven't gone into another's mouth. After cleaning himself he set out to find Eve again, leaving the brook he used for water. Upon returning to the village, he looked over head and saw a throng of demons flying above the village.

"They're not attacking. Must not be hungry..."

"Not all demons attack for substinence." A craggy old voice said behind him. Link turned around and freaked when he saw the old woman from before standing there. "A perfected Kenatsu technique can reduce all 100 of them to ashes."

"DON'T DO THAT!!" He yelled, still trying to overcome her appearance. That's when he became interested in what she was saying now. "Kenatsu? Swords have peer pressure too?"

"Kenatsu(Sword Pressure in Nihongo): The ability to slay a foe without the need of physical contact. All weapons created with holy spiritual powers or demonic powers can utilize this technique." Eve informed Link, then pointed to his Master Sword when she said the 'holy' part.

"Energy is collected to the edge of a bladed surface, like a sword or a halberd, and is released upon a powerful swing or a stab dependent on the amount of courage used in the attack.

A stronger version can take different forms, including that beam of energy you used against that ogre. But all of these attacks are reliant on how hard and fast the swing is made, and how much energy you put into the blade." Eve sat down beside a log, continuing her explanation. Link drew the Master Sword and looked over the blade, checking out the nicks and scratches along the edge.

"So this sword can use kenatsu...that would explain the Spin Attack and Cyclone...you mentioned I had to return to where I came from right? While you did explain the rank of demons in this world, why must I leave?" Link got back on the topic of his leave, and soon she began to think it over.

"...I mentioned earlier that Hyrule was apart of this world..." Eve began, looking up into the sky. Link nodded to signal her continuation.

"The truth is, Hylians use to live in this world a long time ago...existing as mortals beyond humans and demons. Hylians possess spiritual powers that far exceed even A ranked demons if trained expertly. They were the greatest help humans had against the demons before they left our world to make their own."

"...our own?" Link asked, interjecting between her dialogue.

"...for a demon to completely consume a Hylian will upgrade its powers faster than normally. A D class can evolve to a B class by feasting of one Hylian. Upon this discovery the Hylians were brought to near extinction.

With the help of powerful magic, and two groups of demons that sided along with them the Hylians created another world with the help of three deities..." Eve then rose up and walked away from him, looking into the sky in an attempt to try and tell Link the truth.

"Din, Naru, and Farore; The goddesses of Power, Wisdom, and Courage. They granted their wish of a peaceful world and made Hyrule..." Unknown to Link, Eve's eyes turned bright red.

"Yeah, I know this story. I guess it kinda makes-" Link paused for a minute, and felt something wrong. There was evil, demonic energy slowly being released somewhere nearby. 'Where is this coming from...wait!'

"**That's right**." Eve spoke in a more, demonized voice. She turned to face Link, looking at him as her body began to change. Her clothes and flesh were ripped away, as a giant spider rose from within.

"**One year ago Hyrule was destroyed by the omnipotent power of Ganondorf and Soul Edge, causing all of the Hylians to die away. The only Hyruleans left are the Gerudo Ganondorf himself, and the only pure-blooded Hylian; you. Up until a few days ago he came before an age-old demon who is me with the plan to make sure you stay alive while he slaughters your friends and that 'woman'**."

"Woman...so wait! When you told me to leave this place-"

"**That was the old lady I possessed. But I silenced her for good!!**" The spider then shot golden threads at Link, who jumped away with the Master Sword in hand.

"Against an ancient spider like you I can take you out in a few minutes!" Link's courage unknowingly gathers energy into the blade of his sword, and makes a slash at the spider after jumping back at it. The sword releases the same beam of energy from before, as it is sent flying towards the spider.

The spider releases threads from its mouth at the attack, hoping it would serve to reduce the force of the blow. The attack strikes through the threads and tears off the top of its head and one of its left legs. The demon's head squirts blood into the sky, shrieking out to inform people around them.

"It's a demon!"

"Everybody run!"

"Find Priestess Eve!"

These were some of the words being shouted as they ran for cover, hoping to have their souls saved before it would be too late. Link brings his sword up into and slashes at the demon, stabbing into the spider's closest right leg after landing. The blade doesn't pierce through though.

"**Damn boy...You think you can hurt me?**" The spider curses, as another leg begins to grow in the place of the original. Link jumps away to a desirable distance, and prepares for battle.

"You're really starting to-"

"Damn it woman! How dare you fall on top of me?!" Maxi's voice resignates within the village. This catches Link's attention as he finds himself looking past the spider and in town.

Like he suspected, Taki and Maxi were walking through the village with their weapons in hand. They come before the sight of the giant spider and gaze in wonder. Maxi even says, "Whoa! What the hell is that a giant spider?!"

"It's a tarantula; See how hairy it is and the back of its adomen is-"

"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!!" Maxi screams at her, to which the spider turns its attention to them.

"**Who exactly are these fools**?"

"Maxi! Taki!" Link cries out, calling out to his two friends. Both of them look ahead and spot Link at the base of the spider.

"Hey it's him! Link, what are you doing here?!" Taki calls out, running up to him from under the spider.

"I fell down a well and came out on this way...did you guys come from the well too?" Link asks them, as Maxi follows beside Taki. The spider expells venomous threads from its abdomen at the two, but they jumped away from the threads and make it to its sides.

"**You fools must be the ones Master wants dead. In that case...**" The spider's legs thrash about, stomping and swinging at Taki and Maxi. Link gets knocked into the brooke while Taki jumps high above the spider.

"A fucking spider getting in my way...Kaien no Jutsu!!(Abolishing Flame Technique)" She takes in a deep breath and exhales fire, which sets fire on the webbing and the spider's hair. Its entire body is set aflame.

The spider then starts bitching at the ninja for torching its ass. **"HOW DARE YOU SET ME ON FIRE YOU BITCH!?"** It turns its head towards Taki and fires off needles at the still airborn ninja.

"Taki!" Link reaches for his arrows and bow but then flinches when he realizes he doesn't have them with him. He grits his teeth anger as he realizes that he can't help her in this situation, but then gasps when he sees Maxi airborne and taking the blows for her.

"Maxi!!" Taki lands on the spider while holding onto Maxi, then jumps off of it towards where Link was. "MAxi! Are you ok!?"

She places Maxi on the ground before Link, and sees blood coming from his mouth. His eyes stare up at her as she pulls out the needles from his body. "Why did you do that? You took a direct blow for me!"

"Heh. I don't know why...my body just acted on its own..." He says, wiping his mouth of the blood he spat out. Taki examines the needles; she was fairly happy to see the pointy things were very thin like senbon and couldn't kill him that easily.

"**DON'T IGNORE ME YOU BASTARDS!!**" The spider crawls over towards the group and makes a bite at them. Link rises up full of rage and swings his sword at the monster, screaming, "Curse you!!"

The devastating swing releases the attack he has used before, but this was a much stronger version than the original. The beam goes straight through the spider's mouth, and out from its abdomen. As it expells from the back the spider's body disintegrates into nothing.

Link stabs his sword into the dirt, sighing in tiredness at how long his day has become. Link then turns towards his nakama and asks a simple question, "Where's Cassandra? Is she still on the other side?"

"Cassa-OH WAIT!!" Taki then lifts Maxi up over her shoulders and walks over to Link. "We have to go back! The others are stuck fighting a tribe of lizardmen!"

"Lizard..." Link thinks over what she could mean by Lizardmen, but seeing as how he got stuck in a demon world he doesn't question the matter anymore.

"Cassy and the others...were just fighting...them when we fell down the well...We have to head back!" Maxi says through coughs, trying his best to move on his own accord.

Link's eyes shoot out in shock, running past the two for the town. Taki shouts out, "Link! Wait up! Where are you going!?"

"To the well! We can make it back through there!!" Link replies, chasing through the crowds of terrified humans for the place where he can return.

"Well? The same one?" Taki takes Maxi and follows after the elf, going towards where they came from.

Mahou Well...

"We're here!" Link shouts out. The swordsman, the pirate and the ninja reach the well they came to this world from.

"...so all we need to accomplish to return is going down the well?" Maxi asks Link. The elf nods in response to his question, and walks up beside the well. Lifting his right leg Link begins to enter inside, but a cackling laugh causes him to stop.

"You must be Link; the man who Ganondorf wishes me to not kill..." An old man floating above the swordsman says. He points his staff down at the well, as a purple bubble appears right around it.

This pushes Link backwards onto the ground. Taki and Maxi look up at the old man, as she asks, "Who the hell are you?"

"...I'm here to make sure you do not leave here...and unless you can destroy that barrier you won't be seeing that warrior maiden again..." The old man chuckles to himself, licking his lips about something; probably thinking about her in a private manner.

This only further angers Link; it was bad enough that he's been delayed in seeing her again, but for some old pervert to take about her in such a way was totally unforgivable...

Link stands up on both his feet, drawing the Master Sword and wielding it with both hands. "I'll make you eat those words you old shit!"

"...oh..."

_End Chapter..._

Kenshin: Thank you for reading. Have a pleasant day. Also be sure to check out Space Hero's other stories: Nami's Fiance, Anime Hearts and Timcanpy's Most Surprising Memory Feed.


	14. Kongoukyu's Trials Part 1

**_A Love Forged By Souls And Swords_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda.

Kenshin: To whom it may concern, which is the reader, the Link in this story and his back story as well are based on the Ocarina of Time Legend of Zelda. Twilight Princess terms are new to this guy.

**_Chapter 14: Kongoukyu's Trial World Part 1_**

* * *

"Die!" Link leaps into the air towards the old man, swinging his sword horizontally down at him.

"It's useless!" The old man waves his wand before him, blocking Link's attack effortlessly. Soon the top begins to glow ravishingly, reflecting Link off of it and onto the ground.

"Bastard!" Taki throws the boomerang of Link's she carried with her to this world, but the old man only made a cackling laugh while swinging his staff to shatter it to pieces.

His attention turns quickly to Link once more. "Like I said, you are going to meet Ganondorf the minute your friends stop breathing."

"Idiot, we just got started fighting. I will kill you and Ganondorf with my bare hands before I let you even touch Cassandra or the others!" Link says, rising back up to his feet. Taki places a hand on Link's shoulders, prompting him to look back up at her.

"Link, I'll handle this guy. You rest for the other fights to come." She says to him. Taki then does a number of hand seals in rapid motions, then ended with the tiger symbol.

"**Hyoton: Ryuusenka no Jutsu**(Ice Release: Dragon Flower Bloom)!" The woman spews out water from her mouth, having it take the form of a huge dragon made of moving ice. The ice dragon flies towards the old sage, rearing its jaw open to devour him whole.

The sage cackles out in sneering cockiness. "You fool!" He holds his staff up before him, releasing a bright light that enshrouds him like a bubble. Just as the ice dragon bites down on it, the whole thing splashes up on it, developing a giant ice cluster with him in the middle still in the bubble.

Taki makes a tiring sigh and turns towards the others. "That takes care of him. Hopefully that barrier will disappear when he dies."

Maxi and Link stare at the awesome ninja in amazement. "Taki, I never knew you could do ice. Impressive." says Maxi.

Taki somehow finds herself blushing at the comment. Hiding it quickly she replies with, "Sure. Let's just find a way to break this-"

The ice sculpture suddenly explodes, scattering the ice into glittery matter that sparkles in the sunny sky. It would be a beautiful sight to enjoy if the old sage wasn't still there.

Taki turns back in shock. "How the hell did you survive!?"

"Like freezing one layer of my skin can stop a demon sorcerer!!" The old man's staff glows brightly, and fires a blast of dark light towards Taki, who grabs Maxi and dodges the attack. Link leaps away as well.

Upon landing beside Taki, Link draws his sword and holds it towards the old man. Taki stands in his way though once again. "Link, this is my prey. I'll take him on."

"But he's after me. I can't let you get hurt because-" He freezes up and stops talking upon the sight of Taki's deadly glare upon him. It would seem what he said got to her.

"**Link...are you saying that I'm too weak...to take care of myself**?" She asks him, smiling to hide her brutal expression. Link and Maxi pale at her destructive glare.

"Uh...no. You can handle it..." Link says in fear of being beaten down. He can just imagine what Cassandra would do to him if he said the same to her.

"Heh. You might as well just hand him over. There's no way a demon slayer can defeat the great Mahoutsukai!" The old man makes a bellowing laugh.

Taki draws her small katanas and begins battle. She rushes over at the sage and swings her left hand sword, but the old man levitates out of the way.

"I am a ninja!" She makes flurries of hand signs, and breaths out. Upon doing so she fires multiple balls of fire, shouting, "Housenka no Jutsu!"

Mahoutsukai holds his staff up and blocks the attack by forming a bubble. After the attack subsides, he dissolves it. "Like I said, you cannot-"

Suddenly multiple bombs come shooting down from above the skies. This took all but Maxi and Link by surprise, who were looking up into the sky when it happened. They both shout, "Look out!"

As Maxi grabs Taki she soon notices the bombs. They start blasting the forest area the four are in upon impact. The bombing leaves the field to be nothing more than a scorching land of destruction, and Mahoutsukai to be blown into pieces due to being caught off-guard.

As the smoke around the field, a force field of fire dissolves away from above Link, Taki and Maxi. Taki breathes a sigh of relief. "Are you guys ok?"

"Yup." Link agrees, rising up from the dirty ground.

"Man, what the hell was that?" Maxi asks the others, rubbing his back while looking up. Taki soon begins to blush cherry red from having sudden contact with the pirate above her.

"Maxi...you're touching my chest." Maxi looks down at Taki, and realizes where his hand is touching, blushing as hard as she is himself and immediately removing his hand.

"I'm really sorry for-"

"It's ok. I'll let it slide for now." She says, not bothering to wrap her arms around her chest like any girl would. She turns to look away, thinking, 'Besides, I'm kinda glad right now...'

"But where did those bombs come from?" Maxi looks into the sky to try and find what made that assault. When the others along with him could find nothing they gave up.

"Well who cares anyway? It got rid of that obstacle. Now we can-" Looking at the well Link sees that it's still covered by the barrier. He was at this point confused, "But how?"

Link then suddenly coughs up blood, feeling the shock wave of the bombs take effect. He collapses to his knees to gather his breath. "Damn..."

"Link!" Maxi picks up Link and wraps his arm around his shoulder, "That bomb took a lot out of us..."

"We have to get help..." Taki says, holding Link along with Maxi to take him to the village.

As they move on, Link takes a look up into the sky and spots something gleaming past a cloud.

Up in the sky, it is revealed that a golden orange ship with two seperate blue screens is flying above them. It heads out past the atmosphere, flying off to wherever it's going.

Inside a woman with blue tight clothing, and a purple insignia on her back sits down on a leather chair. "I wonder if what I did actually helped Link...well we're even for what he and that red guy did to that hand guy."

Suddenly a digital dark blue screen appears in front of her. Brushing away her blond hair she stares up at it. "Open Message 02546."

Soon words begin to appear before her blue eyes.

_8 days ago, contact with Galactic Federation trooper squad Bravo was lost._

_Mission Objective: Locate Federation troopers and render assistance._

"Any clues to their whereabouts?"

_Last transmission received from a rouge planet in the Dasha region called Aether._

"Upload last known coordinates." She says, pressing a button on the right arm rest.

The screen soon shows a digital planet, as a circle runs across it to try and track down where she needs to go. It finally finds a spot, then blinks as it stops there.

_Flight Path Set_

* * *

Back On...Earth...

A day has past since the three got themselves treated. Link was silent after the attack for some reason, leaving Taki and Maxi to worry.

After all, since when is Link quiet after a fight?

The trio are currently standing before the barrier covered well, their only hope in getting back. "It's still there," Maxi states.

"Even though that bastard is dead the barrier didn't disappear." Taki says, touching the barrier with her bare fingers. She then stabs Rekki-maru at it, but it doesn't even waver.

"No luck. It won't even dent."

"So that's it? We're stuck here forever?! I won't see Xianghua or Kilik, or Cassie again?!" Maxi asks out of rage, gritting his teeth so much they could break. Link stays motionless, standing with his back turned from the others.

Taki seems rather depressed herself. "I guess so. We can't go through the barrier, and I don't know of a way to destroy it. Besides, there's no way we can-"

"Shut up!" Link yells to the others. He looks back at the others. "Are you guys giving up so easily? Just because something like this happened?! There's got to be another way!!"

"But Link, we can't even-"

"NO!! I promised that girl on the other side of that I would live long enough to marry her! I promised I would never let her down! I promised I would destroy Ganondorf!" Link says with a stern, mad look on his face. He pulls his sword out and slams it into the side of the barrier, "I won't let something like a barrier get in the way of keeping my promise!!"

"Link..." Taki stares at the elf warrior pouring his heart out. Maxi stares blankly at Link.

"I will not let her down; I said I would accomplish those things, and I will!!" Upon shouting the last part he drives his fist into the barrier, but it doesn't go any further before it starts making him bleed.

Out of anger and lack of realizing his injured hand he strikes the barrier once more. Each strike results in a yell and blood shooting out from his fist. "I PROMISED TO PROTECT HER, AND SHE COULD BE DYING NOW!!"

Both Taki and Maxi were shocked to see this, Taki more than Maxi. "Link, stop! You'll suffer anemia if you lose anymore blood today!"

"DAMN YOU!! BREAK ALREADY!!" Link pulls his first back to punch into the barrier one more time.

But before he could do that Maxi grabs his arm and pulls him away from it. "DID THAT CHICKENSHIT BOMB MESS UP YOUR FUCKING BRAIN!?"

"LET ME GO! I WANT TO GET TO CASSANDRA!!"

"DO YOU THINK SUICIDE IS GONNA SAVE HER!!" MAxi screams in his ears. This causes Link to atleast listen to her.

"She's not gonna die because of a few lizardmen going after her! There are also Spawn, Kilik and Xianghua there with her! Can't you try to trust your friends a little more?!" Those words ring inside of Link's ears rapidly, hoping to make him see the theme of his yelling.

Lately Link is starting to want to fight battles alone, and gained alot of wounds from this behavior.

"Link, I understand you love Cassandra, but you can't do everything yourself. You're only one man; you can't handle an entire army of bad guys. This fight with Ganondorf is something we all are stuck in, it's not just about you..."

"But it IS about me! Ganondorf is after me, no one else! That's why he's targeting you, and-"

"AND YOU HAVE TO DIE ALONE IN BATTLE!? AS FRIENDS WE ARE TO FIGHT SIDE BY SIDE WITH ONE ANOTHER, NOT DIE TRYING TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHO CAN HANDLE THEMSELVES!!" Link begins to calm down, having his pupils return to normal.

Taki finds herself staring at Maxi in admiration, never in her life thinking he would put together and use such deep words. "Maxi..."

"Maxi...I'm sorry. Forgive my time of weakness..." Link says, pulling his hand back and staring at it.

Maxi forces himself from smiling, then looks away from Link. "Whatever. Just don't ever make me say something like that again."

Link walks away from the barrier, finding his resolve come back. "We have to destroy this thing regardless. It's nevertheless in th-"

"Excuse me," A voice calls out to him. Turning to face it the trio sees a man in a tall black hitoe and hakama walking slowly to them. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

"You mean 'easedrop'..." Taki says to him, pointing at the man.

"Whatever you may call it, I think there exists a way for you to reach this other world you speak about..." This lights up the eyes of Link and Taki, and causes Maxi to blink.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, there could be a way to get back to your world, though I'm not positive it could work." Taki then proceeds to grabbing the man's collars. This causes him to scream out.

"Tell us now!! Where?!"

"Taki, that's no way to talk to people. Are ninjas terrible with manners?" Maxi takes a stab at her occupation.

She turns to stare at him with a malicious hate. "You're one to talk, kaizoku!!(Pirate in Japanese) When was the last time you had a girlfriend!?"

"Now look here-"

"Children!!" Link interrupts, bringing their attention to him. He then walks to Taki, asking the man, "Now, what is it you were talking about?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but I believe you can ask Kongoukyu to make you one." He says, glad to have Taki to let him down.

"Kongokyu?"

"In this world, there are said to be gems that can open portals to alternate worlds; each one going to a different place. These jewels come from the Diamond General Demon of these Eastern lands, Kongokyu Housenki.

With the right incentive you could get him to make you a diamond jewel that can take you to your world." With that, a light of hope appears within Link's heart, over exciting him to new heights.

"YAHOO!! We can get back!!" He cheers out loud. Maxi and Taki smile at his childlike laughter, "So where is this Housenki?"

"He's uh...hidden in the swamps." Link then grips his sword handle tight, sheathing it on his back.

"Let's get a move on! Time's a wasting!" Link says, grabbing both Maxi and Taki and running north of their position.

* * *

5 Seconds Later...

Link comes back before the man. "Where are the swamps again?"

He feels sweat dropping down his head. "Just go where you were going, until you reach a village. Afterwards you might find a pair of boulders stationed outside the village; go east of them and it should take you to a large swamp. Kongokyu should be there..."

"Great!" Link then runs back to where he was going, dragging Maxi and Taki along and ignoring his injured arm.

As they left, the man looks down at his feet, and sighs. "Maybe I should have told them about the seven trials..."

* * *

1 Hour Later...

"Wow. I can't believe we made it so soon." Taki says, finishing with wrapping Link's arm up. She and the others were standing before the village entrance, prepared to search for the boulders.

"Link, you have a clue to where these boulders could be?" Maxi asks the elf. Why he would do that no one knew.

"I think we should ask around. But let's hurry; the others could be in trouble..." Link states, feeling himself going back into protective hero mode.

Maxi got pissed again. "What did I just say about-"

"Excuse me sir," Taki talks to a passing citizen, ignoring Maxi and Link argue. "But can you point to us where we can find a pair of rocks formed together?"

"Rocks?" The citizen takes a while to think it over, then says, "Oh, you must be wanting to go over there."

After she points to the left of the village, Taki runs back to the others. "Link, Maxi, I got the directions: We head over there!"

"Really?!" Link cuts his fight with Maxi and rushes over to find the rocks. The others follow behind him.

The trio makes it to the rock formations, which obviously must be the ones mentioned. Link and the others stand before them and look around.

Taki pulls out a tiny item, which must be a compass, to find East. "I think it should be that way." She points ahead of her.

"Guess that's it then." The pirate then pulls his bandages off, revealing a completely healed chest. Upon seeing it Taki keeps herself from looking at him.

'Why do I want to look at him?' Taki finds herself blushing at the sight of Maxi's chest. She's seen it before, so why is she so attracted to it the second time?

Link ignores her hormonal plight, while Maxi doesn't even notice it, as the elf rushes east of the rocks to search out the swamps that held the powerful diamond demon within. Maxi follows him behind, with Taki trailing along and trying to keep her focus up.

Continuing across the plains, the trio get closer to a collection of trees which could actually be referred to as a forest. The warm air emiting around the lovely greenery soothes the hearts of our multi-aged heroes, or hero, pirate and ninja. As they trekked on, the ground below them starts to become extremely damp and wet. It was an awful muck of dirt and water combined together to hinder their progress.

"It should be close. We're walking through swamp marsh." Maxi says, sloshing through the murky sea of dirt.

"I can see that. It should be around here." Link says this time, stepping high over and in the muck.

_**Who is that?**_

The trio look around in shock of hearing those words. They couldn't find it anywhere. "Where did that-"

**_What are you humans doing here? You are trespassing in the realm of Kongou Daiyokai no Taishou, Kongokyu Housenki._**

Those words got into Link's mind, allowing him to understand what is going on. "So this is his realm..."

Out loud he says, "We're from the world beyond the well! We came here by a dirty trick made by an evil warlock and are wondering if you can help us escape!"

There was a pause for a few seconds. Taki then says, "Did he here us?"

_**I have nothing for you humans. Leave this place at once.**_

"We can't! That's why we came here!" Taki interjects. "We heard you can make portals to other worlds, so we were wondering if-"

**_No. There is nothing you can use here. Begone._**

"Yes you do!! We need your help, or our friends could be in real danger!!" Link says this time, much to Maxi's dismay. In-fact he was just about to say something, when the voice speaks up.

_**Is that so...before you can even think of making a deal with me, you'll have to face the Shichishiren**_(Seven Trials in Japanese).

"Seven trials?" Taki says to herself, as Maxi and Link shrug in cluelessness.

Suddenly, two orbs of light appear before the three. Link walks towards it and says, "What's this suppose to be?"

"Careful Link. We don't know what it could do." Maxi warns him, as the elf gets closer to it. Link then touches it.

'I don't care what it could do. I have to see Cassandra, make sure she's okay...'

Suddenly, Link and the orb he touches disappears within a flash of light. This shocks Taki and Maxi.

"LINK!" Both of them say. They run to where he disappeared from, but vanished as well when the orb shines and blocks any visuals of them.

* * *

Link...

Link suddenly appears in a swamp area. There were trees grown around him, a torch lit beside the walls which makes him believe he's in a cave, a large mountain-like rock that's big enough to reach the top. The swamp pond, which was in front of him, was filled with poisonous purple water.

"Where am I?" He says, then looks around for his friends.

"Maxi! Taki! Where did you guys go?" He calls out, trying to get a response. He didn't receive any.

"So, I'm alone."

_**No you're not.**_

The voice calls out to him again. "Where am I!?"

**_You are in the first of seven trials you'll go through to reach me. Your friends are taking the same ordeal._**

"What?! Is this some sort of game to you? You do this to everyone who asks for your help!?" Link shouts out in anger.

**_Only those I don't trust, or are stupid enough to touch the orbs._**

Link could feel comically oversize drops of sweat fall down his head. That wasn't exactly a smart idea back then.

"Sorry. Anyway, how do I reach you?" Link asks him, wherever he is. The Hero of Time begins to wonder how he could do something like this.

**_It is simple; You have to slay the monster within this dimension, however way you can._**

"Really? That's it? What kind of monster is this?" Link asks him, wondering how simple a task this could be.

As soon as he said that, the poisonous water begins to bubble violently, causing Link to turn around and face it. "What the hell is this?"

**_Soon, two giant plant heads rises up from deep within the poisonous waters, staring down at Link. The carnivorous maneaters look to be about ready to chomp into the man's flesh._**

Link stares at the terrible creatures in shock. "What the hell is this? How can he expect me to fight this?"

* * *

Taki and Maxi...

The pirate/ninja pair appear within a forest area. There were totem poles sticking up from the ground in a hexagon shape. There were also carnivorous maneaters hanging above the ceiling. The only light in the room is a big gaping hole in the wall.

"Where are we?" Taki asks no one in particular. Maxi scratches his head to try and understand what's going on.

"I don't know. It seems like we've been caught in one of those other worlds. Dammit Link." Maxi curses, wondering how they got in this mess in the first place.

**_Your friend is in trouble, the one with the ears and accent._**

Maxi looks around to try and find where that damn voice is coming from. "Where are you!? Where's Link?!"

**_The one called Link is about to battle against a powerful carnivorous plant demon and ruler of the dimension he is in; the Twilight Parasite Diababa._**

"You're worried Link will lose? Aren't you against us?!" Maxi states as a matter of fact.

Taki then interjects. "I thought you didn't want to speak with Link!"

**_I don't; but it wouldn't be fair to let your friend die with no way to win. Unless he possesses the Wind Boomerang he won't be able to successfully kill him._**

"You...want Link to win?" Taki seems shocked by this, but then of course who wouldn't when a faceless monster just out of no where pulls you into a different dimension?

**_All those who face this trial must have at least a way to win, and the only way for him to is you two. You must defeat the holder of the item he needs to win; if you somehow manage to win the weapon will teleport to his dimension and he'll have to figure a way to use it._**

"What kind of sick ordeals are you putting us through?!" Taki says with rage, not finding the situation fair to say the least.

**_Your opponent awaits you..._**

And so the voice disappears. Maxi pulls out his nun chuks. "You think we can trust him?"

"Do we have a choice?" Taki tells him while drawing her swords.

A screech could be heard nearby, prompting the two to stare at the totem formations. They then see a white baboon holding an over-sized white and gold boomerang. "Is that our opponent?"

The primate makes more screeches, jumping around across totem to totem. Taki makes a depressing sigh, "I guess so."

* * *

Kenshin: Well, that went nicely. To those who may be a bit confused, the demons Link, Taki and Maxi will be facing are to be the ones from Twilight Princess.  
Haou: And I'm sure you all know who it was who saved them back then. Let's not say this is exactly a crossover, but a mere few Easter eggs. She will not appear again.


	15. Kongoukyu's Trials Part 2

**_A Love Forged By Souls and Swords_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or Soul Calibur.

_**Chapter 15: Kongokyu's Trial World Part 2**_

* * *

The white baboon throws its silver boomerang at the two, to which Maxi and Taki dodge by jumping. Maxi then taunts it. "Hah! Stupid monkey should work on its aim!"

A glint appears in its eye, as the boomerang does not come back to it, but instead flies into the air and slices the tentacles on the man-eaters above them. Some of them fall down to him directly.

"Maxi!" Taki uses her ninja speed to bring Maxi out of danger. After escaping the plants, Taki then sets Maxi down to stare at them. "They've been removed from their roots, and yet they can still move..."

The white baboon retrieves its returning boomerang and throws it after Taki. Maxi jumps in the way and knocks it away with his nun chukkas. As the man-eaters approach the two comrades, Taki completes a set of hand-signs.

"**_Hi no Tama no Jutsu_**!!(Fire Ball Technique)" Her first fireball incinerates the first plant coming after her. She uses her swords to slice up the second.

Maxi jumps at the baboon, swinging his weapon side to side. His assault fails as he is unable to touch the primate because it jumps away. The ape lands on another totem pole away from Maxi. "Taki! How you handling those weeds?"

"Already taken care of!" She does more hand seals.

"**_Ryusenka no Jutsu_**!" A dragon of ice blooms from her mouth and flies after the baboon. Upon having the dragon's mouth chomp down on the ape it freezes on contact.

The ice soon shatters away from around the monkey, as it falls to the ground before them. It drops the boomerang, which Maxi grabs.

Rising up the baboon looks around, then notices Taki and Maxi staring at it. The minute it notices the boomerang out of its grasp it hops away onto the ceiling and climbs away.

"Well, that settles that." Taki states, clapping her hands to brush off dirt. Looking down at Maxi's hands she begins to wonder something.

"Something wrong?" He asks her.

"Just that...how can we get this to him?" Taki asks hypothetically. "We're still in this world, and he's-"

Suddenly a portal appears right behind the two, then they turn around to stare at it. The swirling pool of glittering light seems inviting enough, but what seems to be is sometimes never what it is.

The boomerang in Maxi's hands disappears within a burst of light particles. As it fades from existence the duo stare at all around them and decide what to do next.

"I say we go in. After all, Link could be through there." Maxi says, walking towards it. Taki grabs his shoulder to stop him.

"Wait! We have to go in together." She tells, not knowing what could be inside. "We don't know what could happen to us inside; if we separate we might never meet one another again."

"Hmm...good point. Hold my hand." Maxi stabs him hand out to her, as she blushes upon the thought.

"Huh?! But-"

"Do you trust me?" He asks her. She takes a look at his hand, and reaches out to it. Gripping tightly Maxi pulls himself and her into the portal. It disappears after they enter.

* * *

Link...

"Take this!" Link swings the Master Sword at the man eater. He was successful in pushing it back, but could not cut deep into its flesh.

"Damn it. The skin's too tough." He mutters to himself, but gets caught off guard by the second one ramming its head into his back. He rolls along the ground and crashes into a tree.

The two headed plant monster lick their lips. They then stretch over to Link's position, but miss devouring him when he jumps above them. He is now able to stab his sword into the left head's skull, but it doesn't go through.

The plant head knocks Link off it, having him crash into the ground. Link tries his best to rise up, but with a skinned knee he is having trouble with it. "Damn you bastards..."

Before he continues the battle, a bright light appears in front of him. Looking at it he touches it, pulling out a silver and gold boomerang. "Wow. What's this?"

The plant monster begins its assault. Link, with his instincts, throws the boomerang at it, as a deadly wing releases all around it in the form of a twister. Loose objects around it gather around as it attacks the monster's right head.

The tornado-rang blows away the parasitic plant, but does nothing to destroy it. The boomerang returns to Link's hand. "It's strong, but not strong enough...wait!" Link takes a second to think it over; if it's like this he can cut it.

Leaping onto a lily pad, he hops over to the right head. With a battle cry and a powerful swing he successfully slices the head off, detaching it from the neck. It falls into the poisonous swamp.

"There we go-AAHH!" Link feels his platform giving out, and jumps back to rock hard land. The second man-eater launches its head over to Link, but gets blocked by his sword. The impact causes Link to roll over the ground, luckily missing drops of poison water that come from the sea.

Link throws the boomerang at the plant monster once more, knocking it back and dropping its guard. Repeating his steps Link jumps onto a log this time and leaps once more onto the plant, decapitating it.

Link quickly returns to land, feeling pain from the poisonous water that was able to seep through his boots. "Dammit! I'm gonna need new boots afterwards..."

Link takes a look back at the monster he just defeated, breathing a sigh of relief as its head sinks into the blimey deep. "Guess my test is over..."

But before Link could rest himself, the ground around him begins to shake. Suddenly bubbles begin to rise up from the sea. Out from the sea bursts a giant plant thing; it resembles a yellow-green tri-hinged mandible mouthed plant with an eye sticking out from its supposed tongue.

It opens its mouth and roars at Link, spewing poison at him. Link brings his shield up and blocks. The poison seems strong enough to melt into the shield, like a deadly acid. Link throws his shield down, watching it dissolve away into nothing. 'Will my sword be able to block it?'

The monster releases a stream of poison at him. Link runs away from it with all his speed. The monster fires two more shots at him. Link jumps and rolls away from them, frowning in fear as he watches the poison melt the ground.

Link pulls out his boomerang. "Guess there's no other choice. If there are more of these around I have to conserve my energy."

Throwing the weapon wind releases all around it, as it flies towards the monster. The wind isn't enough to even knock it off balance; it just shakes it off like a tiny fly. Link retrieves his weapon.

"Dammit! What will work on this thing?!"

Link makes two spins while holding the boomerang, then releases it upon the final swing. That allows him to release a powerful blast of wind at the monster. This time the boomerang is able to create a giant tornado that sucks away a large amount of water from around it. Without the water around it, the demonic plant seems to be losing a bit of its power.

Dried up and winded, the plant falls towards the ground before Link, exposing its eye to him. "This is it; my one chance!"

Link pulls his sword free of its sheath, and leaps after the swamp monster's eye. Upon his descent he stabs his sword dead into the thing's eye. Link then quickly pulls it out, and backs away. The water begins its descent towards the ground.

In pain and losing purple blood, the parasitic plant flings its head. Becoming anemic and already dry without its poisonous water substance, the plant begins to shrivel up violently.

Link now prepares for a final assault, wielding the Master Sword with both hands. With one big swing of his weapon he releases his kenatsu ability. This move creates a giant tremor in the ground as it passes by, and within mere seconds of touching it the attack reduces the beast to mere ashes.

Tired from having to use the move so many times, earlier and now, he feels himself growing extremely tired. Link falls down to his knees, wincing in pain as the boomerang returns to him and all the poisonous water returns to the lake while splashes of it touch his shoulders and right arm.

But just as strangely, the acid doesn't burn any deeper than it has, and the wounds actually begin to heal. 'That's interesting...very interesting...'

Suddenly the water that was so purple turns pure and blue, or whatever water is suppose to look like. To his left he notices a red portal appearing to his left. Link walks to it. "Guess this must be the exit..."

With no hesitation he walks towards the portal and enters in. "Taki, Maxi, I'll find you guys..."

* * *

Taki and Maxi...

The two warriors fall down onto a hard surface, probably made of steel. Taki is the first to look up, since Maxi's skull is currently bleeding from the landing and he is holding it in pain, and realizes that she and him were standing on a floating rock, above roaring lava. She also realizes that the walls around them were melted into magma too.

"Wow...where are we?" She asks no one in particular.

Maxi finally releases his grip on his head, and notices their surroundings. As he pulls himself up, he pulls Taki up as well without realization.

That's when he notices that they were still holding hands. Blushing, Taki pulls her hand away. Thoughts rush throughout her head, though most of them were about the possibilities of them being more than comrades.

Maxi's thoughts were more focused on how they were going to escape, and why they couldn't find Link. "He's not here either."

The ninja finds it to be extremely hot where they are. "Sheesh, it's too humid in here..."

She was just about to adjust her clothing, when they two heard a hissing sound nearby. Turning to the left the duo finds a snake slithering towards them. IT opens its mouth and prepares to devour them.

Maxi pulls out his nun chukkas, and with one swing he slams it on its skull, shutting its mouth close. The snake quickly opens its mouth once more and bites onto Maxi's leg, right where his ankles are.

The pirate cringes his mouth to the pain, and proceeds to shaking the painful red reptile off his body. Gripping both sticks he jabs his nun chukkas into the snake's eye, forcing it to slither away in pain. Maxi holds his ankle in pain, as Taki comes to his aid.

"Damn you!" She throws a shuriken star, which she pulls out of her items hoister, and throws it at its other eye.

Taki bows down to Maxi's ankle, and uses her katana to cut off some of her arm sleeves. She then uses it to wrap around his ankle. "Huh. Thanks."

"It's no problem. Just be careful, for there might be more." Taki replies to his thanks. Suddenly she turns her head to her right side, and sees two more snakes slithering after them. They seem to be different than the one they recently fought against.

"Damn, he had friends." She looks to be about to go through a number of hand seals, when the snakes each release a blast of fire at her.

"Taki!" Maxi jumps at her and pushes her out of the way with him as well. The flames singe into the walls, doing nothing at all to the already toasted walls.

As they roll along the cyan blue field, they begin to notice it tilting, as if their platform wasn't buoyant. "What's with this place?"

"Maxi, duck!" Taki rolls in front of him, performing numerous hand seals. She then releases a large stream of water at the fire snakes through her mouth. Taki's water attack dries up a bit in the air before it could reach them, only drenching them slightly. "Shit! It's too hot in here."

"Watch out!" The snakes fire more...fire at them. Taki and Maxi dive down to dodge the blaze, as they slither around them. Taki throws a couple of kunai knives at the two snakes, having them stab into the base of their heads.

Maxi throws his nun chukkas at the first one to run away, glad that it was able to pierce into its neck. The snake tries its best to move about, but it's unable to get out of the way. Rolling, Maxi grabs the nun chukkas and pulls it out.

Taki leaps after the other snake and pulls the kunai out of its head, then stabs into it again. Both snakes die where they are slain, leaving Maxi and Taki to slowly breath heavily.

Maxi turns his head to look at Taki, whose sweat has drenched her shirt enough to make her sexual appeal even more arousing than it already was. The pirate turns away quickly, then notices someone standing there.

This person was a golem sized warrior, stabilized in silver streaked armor over its arms, legs and head. Ironically, there wasn't anything to guard its stomach or chest. "Are you mortals the ones trying to reach Kongou-sama?"

'Damn it. I'm not sure we can handle this guy in this condition...' Maxi thinks as Taki makes numerous hand seals within seconds.

"**Hi no Tama no Jutsu**!!" Her technique lets loose a giant fireball at the golem. It holds its hand out and blocks the attack, not even feeling singed by its power.

"What was that suppose to be?" It says, then bends over.

The golem rolls itself into a ball, or more like a giant boulder, and rolls after them. Taki and Maxi each jump separate ways, dodging the roll out.

Maxi complains, "Great. How are we gonna fight this asshole?"

As the golem stops its rolling right before reaching the edge, which tilts the platform towards him, Taki places her hands together into a Tiger seal. "I think I know..."

* * *

Where Link Is...

"GAAAAHHHH!!" Link continues to fall down from the portal he fell from above. The warrior falls hard onto the rock hard ground below him.

In pain, he pulls himself out from the face plant he made from his crash. "Ouch. I need a vacation...huh?"

He notices a large, charcoal figure chained up by the ceiling, which he now notices isn't as far from the ground and realizes why the fall didn't knock him out or kill him. Link rises to his feet, and stares up at it, cracking his nose back in place.

Its arms and legs were chained up to the ceiling and ground, proving it safe to approach it. Of course the thing looks to be sleeping anyway, so there's no fear here. Link sits in an Indian style, looking up at the black monster.

The sides of its jaw seems to hold three sets of fangs. It was wearing a mask that only covered up its forehead and the top of its head. It's eyes seem to be closed, meaning it was more than likely asleep.

Looking around Link also realizes that he must be in some sort of chamber room, for there was no light at all for him to see, except for the night sky above. Seeing this he also comes to the conclusion that it is nighttime. His attention goes back to the creature.

"I wonder...is this my next foe?" Link asks himself, looking up at the darkened creature. As he stares upon it, he begins to notice the creature's forehead beginning to glow ominously. He didn't like the looks of things, even believing this might be a bad idea.

The glow begins to take the shape of a slitted eye, which still shines brightly, as a mask starts to become visible within its blackness. Soon black fumes begin to emit off its body, and Link's body begins to shiver. It was time for another battle.

Opening its two lower eyes, the creature suddenly grows, shaking its head and roaring down towards the boy. The beast realizes its imprisonment, looking at both chains around its arms. Link breathes a sigh of relief.

"Phew! For a second there I thought I would have to fight it seriously." He says, standing up while drawing the Master Sword. "But with it chained up like this I can't help but feel this to be a bit boring..."

The beast continues to try and pull itself free of its shackles. "Regardless, I have to pass these next few trials as quickly as possible."

The giant demon then stops struggling, almost as if it's giving up. Link is surprised it would suddenly stop like that. 'That's it? It's not gonna fight back?'

But before he could be reassured, the demon ignites itself on fire all of a sudden, shocking Link so much he fell onto his bottom. "Uh oh..."

The cuffs around its arms begin to heat up from its fire. As you all know, heat can make metal expand, and in this case it was enough for this ignited forest fire to break free. After ripping its arms free of its shackles, the pyro demon roars once more at Link, its flames burning harshly into the air.

Link grabs hold of his neck, coughing hard as if he wasn't breathing in a decent amount of oxygen. The demonic creature stares at Link with its one eye. The elfen hero could only think of one thing to do in this situation; run.

Link dashes away from the monster, as it towers towards him. The creature releases a burning shockwave from its body, which knocks Link down forward onto his face. He slides across the ground slowly, then comes to a complete stop. Link pulls his face out from the ground.

"Crap. I'm not sure(cough) I can make it out of this(cough) safely." Link mutters to himself. Link looks back up to the life-sized matchstick.

'How am I gonna beat this guy, when I can't even breath?' Even Link can see how hard this fight will be for him. If he cannot defeat it he'll never be able to reach Maxi and Taki and get this diamond demon to forge a portal to another world, and he'll never be able to see Cassandra again.

With these thoughts burning into his mind he rises up to his feet and begins to fight back. "I can't give up now. I have to do(cough) something...Hey wait!"

Link sheathes his sword back into its scabbard. His eyes stare up to the creature, with veins becoming present due to the harsh air and sweat pouring down his body. He pulls out from his tunic the silver boomerang he used before.

"Alright, time to clear the air." He throws the boomerang at the creature, as it releases tremendous winds to blow away most of the smoke and humidity. The flames around it do not seem to waver though.

The boomerang returns to Link, as he grabs it with his right hand. Looking up at the monster he feels he can breath much better than before. "Thank goodness. I can't think straight without clear air."

The fire monster blows fire after Link. He jumps out of the way. "But still, this is gonna be a problem for me..."

* * *

Kenshin: Hey Haou, check out the stats for this story.

Haou: Wow. 10 favorites, 14 alerts, 32 reviews, and 5936 hits. That's pretty good.

Kenshin: Yeah, isn't it!? It just goes to show you that this is a great story.

Haou: There is just one small thing you should notice though...

Kenshin: What's that?

Haou: THESE AREN'T GREAT NUMBERS!! Only 10 favorites?! Silfarion works hard on this fic more than his Naruto ones, and yet all that is only good for 32 reviews so far. Is he doing something wrong here?

Kenshin: Haou, calm down. If Silfarion cared so much for reviews, he would ask for some reviews a day. Besides, Shounen Hearts only has 8 reviews, and he's still doing it. Let's just do the story, hope for the best, and have fun along the way.

Haou: Says you. Your personality is comparable to a carefree surfer dude.


	16. What's Been Going on in the Real World

**_A Love Forged By Souls and Swords_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or Soul Calibur.

Kenshin: I wonder how long this story will end up, don't you Haou?

Haou: About 10-14 more chapters.

Kenshin:...damn. That soon? This story will end in that much time? What about the alternate ending?

_**Chapter 16: The Secret Between Clair and Sophitia**_

* * *

Two Hours Before Kongoukyu's Trial World...

"Sophitia, are you sure you're okay?" Rothion asks his beloved wife. He hands her a glass of cold water.

Looking up to his face from the bed she laid back on the more appreciated and beautifully complimented of the Alexandra sisters smiles at him. "I'm fine, Rothion. I just felt a little faint after that vision. I'll be fine in a few hours."

"My dear wife, if there's something troubling you then just tell me. I'll always be here for you..." He says to her, rubbing her cheek with the back of his right hand. The soft contact makes the married mother blush a little.

"Don't worry...I'll never lose to something like a little fatigue..." Raising her head up to him, she plants a kiss onto his lips. The blacksmith kisses back, resulting in both bodies warming up from the loving contact.

After that kiss, Rothion feels sure about her condition. He could now believe she would be okay for the time being. "Fine. I'll go get you some soup. You stay down, right?"

Rothion, smiling at the beautiful woman in bed, leaves the room with a bowl and spoon, which seems to have been used before. As he leaves, Sophitia could feel herself becoming even warming than before.

She could feel her heart pounding slowly. Her vision went white before she could realize it. It was too late for her to try to move, as her consciousness slips from her completely. Her body adjusts to her limpness, her head, arms, and body shifts due to gravity and being unable to hold them up herself.

Two minutes later Rothion walks up the stairs towards his bedroom, where his wife is currently at. Before he could grab the knob, the door opens itself. Before him is his lovely wife Sophitia.

Although she seems kinda different than her usual self; she was showing a rather weird shyness around herself, which is weird only because she's never shy. Her eyes seem to be different as well. Instead of the forest greenery every woman in her family was known for, they were purple with a swirl of dark blue.

"Sophitia?" One look at her and Rothion could tell there was something up.

"Who are you?" She asks him. Blinking with confusion, Rothion stares at his wife.

What could she mean by that? "Sophitia? Is something wrong?"

"...is...is that my name now...my name is Sophitia?" She wonders to herself, staring into the eyes of the blacksmith she supposedly knew for so long.

Rothion was becoming even more worried. "Sophitia, what are you saying?"

"Are you, the next wielder of Soul Calibur?" She asks him. Rothion lifts an eyebrow upon hearing the answer.

"What? What's going on?" - Rothion

"You're not him huh...do you have any weapons, swords of the sort?" She asks him before running past him towards the steps.

Rothion turns around to go after her. "Wait! You're still uneasy! You shouldn't go to the tool shed!!"

'Sophitia' rushes out the back door, going inside the building behind the house. Upon entering Rothion's place of work she finds plenty of destroyed and broken swords. She looks down and spots a broken sword that looks remotely close to useful. Picking it up she taps on it with her knuckles to test its durability, just as Rothion comes flying into the room.

"Sophitia stop! You cannot go out into battle again! Remember your-"

"I have to go find him! He must unseal me!" She says, staring up into his eyes. Rothion was about to say something else when she grabs onto the sides of his arms with tears forming in her eyes. "Please, you have to help me! There's not much time left before Soul Edge is reborn!"

"But..." Looking deep into her eyes, Rothion could feel a bit of Sophitia inside of her. It was this feeling that made him agree to everything she said. "Fine. I'll reforge it."

* * *

Back To The Time-line Forest Area...

It was quiet; too quiet. That is something you would never expect in a forest, especially one full of demonic lizardmen. You would at least hear swords clashing against one another. Some might think that they left.

And they were wrong as hell!

Those lizardmen were still roaming the forest in search for their prey. One of them passes by a tree that was cut down by a thunder storm some time ago. After sniffing the air a bit, it runs away.

Good thing it didn't stick around, for it would have seen Cassandra, Spawn, Kilik and Xianghua hiding inside the hallowed hunk of wood. Kilik pulls out an old fashion bottle of water and drinks some.

"Damn. This isn't getting us anywhere. It's gonna be dawn within minutes and we still haven't found Link." Kilik says after gulping down some water.

The mention of Link brings Cassandra to become even more depressed than usual. She didn't say anything though. Xianghua scuffs in anger. "And to make things worst, Taki and Maxi are missing as well."

"What could those asshole be doing at a time like this?" Spawn says out loud, then searches the scenery for anymore lizardmen.

"...Link..." Cassandra mutters to herself. Huddling herself into a ball the others could only stare at her depression in sadness, except for Spawn who seems to be glaring elsewhere.

"He'll be okay, Cassandra. Link can take care of himself." Xianghua says to reassure her. Cassandra looks back at the Asian girl.

"...I know...that's what I'm afraid of..." She mutters once more.

The love she had for Link could never diminish no matter how far from each other they are, yet, it's the fact that their nowhere near one another that she believes something bad could happen. Her heart could tell Link would do whatever it takes to get back to her, but she fears what little life he would have if he really had to do 'whatever it takes'.

Kilik feels like he should try and sympathize with her, but now really wasn't the best time. "Cassandra, now isn't the time to focus on Link. Those damn lizardmen are still out there, and-"

A weird grow could be heard above them. As the four look up, Xianghua yelps at the sight of a lizardmen.

As the creature eaps back it makes a weird growl, but even our heroes could tell it was calling out to its brethren. "Damn, it's found us!"

"What now?" Kilik asks Spawn, who seems to know a bit more about supernatural creatures than them.

Spawn, who turns back to face him, says, "You guys are too injured to fight them. We'll just avoid them until we reach town. I doubt they'd reveal themselves to the public."

"But where is town?" Kilik asks him.

"Cassandra, what are you doing?" Xianghua says, looking up into the trees. Kilik and Spawn turn to face the Chinese girl, then where she's looking, and spot Cassandra in the trees looking out to the east.

"Everyone! There's a bright light all the way down there! If we head there we might be able to reach town." She says to them. After jumping out of the tree onto the one they hid in, she then says, "I think we should cover there..."

"Sure. We can come back and search for Link, Taki and Maxi after resting our wounds..." Kilik states, as the group runs towards where Cassandra pointed. Running, Cassandra splits up from the others, hiding within bushes. Seconds later lizardmen come running by after our heroes. She watches as they chase after them, then runs back deeper into the forest.

'I'm positive, no...I know what they are after. They are after me, and no one else. Once they realize I'm not there, they'll leave them alone...'

Her conviction isn't as weird as one might think; As the lizardmen surround the now trio, they stare at the three, wondering something. One of them sniffs the air, before running off in the opposite of the direction they came. The lizardmen then leave Spawn, Kilik and Xianghua, muttering to one another.

Spawn was, for one, confused. Those things were relentless in trying to kill them, yet they easily left them. It was as if they were after something of theirs, and they must have lost it.

"Wasn't that weird?" Xianghua says, placing her Chinese sword on a wrap around her waist.

"Why did they leave? Did they receive new orders?" - Spawn

"Cassandra! Where are you!?" Kilik calls out, looking all around for the girl. The others turn to him.

"What? What's wrong?" Xianghua asks him.

Kilik turns around to face her. "I can't find Cassandra."

Upon hearing his words, she gasps in immediate shock as Spawn becomes agitated at what he hears. Kilik then continues by saying, "She must have split from us accidentally."

"This is not good..." Spawn says, as both Kilik and Xianghua look at him now. 'Were they after her the whole time?'

* * *

With Cassandra...

"I have to find him...he could be anywhere..." She says between breathes as she runs throughout the forest.

She begins to call out for him, yelling his name out in order to get him. She soon stops after stumbling upon a very bright area. Realizing it still isn't dawn, she becomes very enchanted by the scenery.

'Wows' and 'oohs' come out of her mouth as she looks around. She also notices a well sitting in the middle of the open place. She begins to wonder to herself, how exactly did she get here and why didn't they find this earlier, as her legs carried her closer to the well.

The closer she got to it the more she begins to notice around the well it is gleaming off the light around them. Cassandra moves her right hand closer to the well, until it touches something she could not see.

'A barrier...? What's a barrier doing here?' She wonders in her mind. Then an idea appears within it. 'A barrier is made to keep something in and another out...could-'

Suddenly the bushes behind her begin to rustle. Turning to her left she finds nothing their. More noises could be heard to her right but upon turning she sees nothing but nature again. Suddenly, something leaps out from the bushes towards her.

Upon turning to face where her back was, she pulls her sword out and swings it at whatever is attacking her. With another sword clashing with her own it is revealed that a lizardman had found her. 'They found me already!'

Cassandra and the lizardman push each other back, having it back away and regain its balance and Cassandra to hit the barrier around the well. Cassandra makes a battle cry as she rushes after the lizardman, who blocks her slash with its own sword. Two more lizardman come out from behind trees, going after their one true prey.

"Oh no. I need help..." To her this was a desparate situation. She would never be able to defeat them all.

The lizardmen run up behind her, swords held in their hands. Each of them leaps into the air and swings their sword at her.

Blood splatters onto the ground seconds later.

* * *

Back With Spawn and The Others...

"Are you positive?" Xianghua asks Spawn, who leads the group into a team run throughout the woods.

The hellspawn nods as he runs. "I'm sure of it. Their entire time they've been going after Cassandra. I don't know why though..."

'Could they be working for that guy?' Kilik thinks, finding it possible to believe.

As our heroes rush through the forest they run past bodies; these bodies belonged specifically to Lizardmen. They could possibly be the same ones they just saw. Xianghua looks at them as she runs.

'Those wounds are from a blade...Could Cassandra have done this, or-'

"Xianghua, you have to keep up." Kilik tells her as they run, to which she nods and speeds up.

* * *

Cassandra...

The Lizardmen that attacked Cassandra from behind were quickly slaughtered by speedy blade swipes. Their bodies collapse onto the ground. Cassandra turns her attention back to the Lizardmen in front of her, and pushes them back.

"I couldn't do anything to them. So who..." Her attention is suddenly brought to her left, and widens her eyes when she sees a familiar face.

Kneeling down was Sophitia. She was dressed in the clothes she wore before, wearing shoes that could allow her movement. Her hair was frilled out and messy and she possesses a sword and shield.

"Sis?!" Cassandra was totally surprised to see her here at this time. It was like she easily recovered and somehow followed them within a matter of seconds.

Sophitia turns to face Cassandra, standing back up on her feet. She then says, "Are you okay, miss?"

"Miss?" Cassandra is surprised to here her call her a name of such unfamiliarity. "It's me! Cassandra! How did you get here?"

"Cassan-are you familiar with this woman Sophitia?" She says to her, bringing Cassandra to gasp.

The Lizardmen rush after Sophitia, ignoring the weaker fighter for the stronger one for now, and lunge their swords at her. The identity-crisis swordswoman simply swings her sword at them five times, effortlessly slashing them into pieces.

Cassandra was shocked by her sword abilities. They weren't Athenian swordplay, but something much stronger. "Sophitia..."

"Are you the new wielder of Soul Calibur?" She asks her sister, even if she didn't know it this time.

Cassandra could not fathom the reason for her sister's weird behavior; it was as if someone else has taken over her mind. Of course with all the weird events happening lately this is no surprise.

"Soul Calibur...isn't that the weapon that destroyed Soul Edge long ago? What do you want with that?" She replies to her, as Sophitia turns her attention to the bushes just to their left.

"My name is Clair Sulubo. I use to be the original possessor of Soul Calibur." She says, as her eyes turn to face her.

"C-Clair?" Cassandra now understands the situation. "Don't tell me; you're not my sister Sophitia?"

"I believe I've been reincarnated once again as this woman, to find and merge my soul with Soul Calibur...but I have yet to find the sword or the person who is chosen to wield it." Sophitia, or Clair, says. Cassandra stands politely and listens to her. "It's been years since I've seen my precious sword. I believe the sword could either be in the possession of Inferno or the new wielder..."

Cassandra could not understand what she meant with those words. "Reincarnated..Soul Calibur...Inferno...New-"

"Cassandra!" She is brought out of her stupor as she hears her name being called out. She sees Kilik, Xianghua and Spawn running up to her from the trees and bushes.

"Everyone! You've come back for me..." Cassandra is surprised to see her friends coming back for her. "I was hoping they wouldn't notice so soon..."

"Cassandra!" Xianghua launches a slap to the girl's cheek, to which knocks her for a loop. She stares at her in anger as Cassandra holds her reddened cheek. "How dare you put your life in danger like that?! What would Link do to us if you died!?"

"Xianghua!" Kilik places a hand on her shoulder. "You have to calm down. She was only-"

"Get off me, Kilik!" Xianghua jerks free of his control. Spawn then notices Clair. "I don't care about any stupid ass convictions or reasons; she would have ended up dead because of how damn noble she was. It's unforgivable for someone to sacrifice their life when they've got people to live for!"

"Xianghua?" Cassandra was taken by surprise at the Chinese woman's sudden action. Did she really care about her that much? The Greek could only feel even more remorse. "I'm sorry..."

Xianghua straightens her expression, looking away from her. "Whatever. Don't act all sorry and innocent. I still hate you for what you did just now..."

"Woman..." Spawn says to Clair, thinking she is Sophitia now. Kilik and Xianghua soon notice the other Alexandra's presence upon hearing his voice, and recognize the resemblance to her and Cassandra. "How did you find us?"

'I sense a dark presence from him...is he their companion?' "Are you another person familiar with this Sophitia?" Clair says, looking Spawn in the eyes.

Spawn looks into the greek's eyes, realizing a difference in them. "Who...are you?"

"I am Clair, the original wielder of Soul Calibur." She says, as everyone looks at her like she was crazy.

"The original user of the Kali Yuga my mother gave me?" Xianghua says to herself, but loud enough so they could hear them.

Clair turns to her. "You have Soul Calibur? Show it to me!" She seems frantic in her search for the powerful blue sword.

Xianghua looks down in depression, then sighs before saying, "I lost it when I stabbed it into Inferno."

"Inferno? The fiery embodiment and soul that dwells within Soul Edge?" Clair realizes what she means when she talks about the fire monster. "There's no way you would be able to fight him unless someone was completely possessed by the heart."

"The heart?" Kilik asks her, looking another way at the barrier around the well.

"The main piece; it is the sole essence of Soul Edge, where Inferno dwells and can be summoned from. It is also the most important piece to the sword. If it's destroyed, then the sword itself will waste away."

This information shocks the rest of them. Spawn cuts the silence by asking, "So this heart is that important; what about Soul Calibur? Just how connected are you to it?"

Clair turns her head back to Spawn, still weary from his dark energy. "Soul Calibur was made for me to use originally. It's powers, its form, even its name, was forged for me by the gods. And it wasn't until I died in battle against Soul Edge and Inferno that I realized that as long as my soul is still in this world Soul Calibur would stay in this world.

That's why I seem to be coming back to life as other people. That's why Sophitia must have been in so much pain; those wounds from Soul Edge must have triggered my reawakening, and she could not be conscious during my appearance..."

"Huh. That makes sense." Kilik speaks, pressing his fingers on the barrier. "Where did this barrier come from..."

"What about my sister? Is she still in there?!" Cassandra asks her, gripping Clair's arms to try and learn more of her sister's condition.

Clair smiles warm fully. "Don't worry. She'll reappear when I recede back into her conscious."

Cassandra breathes a deep sigh of relief, thankful that her sister's life would not be compromised. "Oh thank the gods...now that everything has been cleared up we can get back to finding Link."

"What about Maxi and Taki?" Xianghua brings up the fact that Cassandra only mentioned the man she dreams of.

The Alexandra with only one conscious blushes in embarrassment, then says, "Whoops."

"I'm getting sick..." Clair says, as her eyes flutter for a few seconds. Her body soon falls to the ground. Noticing this first, Spawn leaps into action and grabs her before she could crash onto the ground.

"Sister..." Cassandra moves over to her fallen sister, as Spawn gently lays her down onto the grass. Cassandra bows down before Sophitia's body.

Kilik puts pressure onto the barrier, trying as he could to break it. 'It's a strong barrier...what's behind it?'

* * *

Demon World...

Within a swamp like realm gallops a dark horse. On top rides a man in dark, immense clothing. The man's utter presence has created dark flames to emerge from the ground it ride from, and the life and essence of the flowers and plants around them to whither and die.

'I should have known that fool magician would fail. I should have done this from the start...' The man's thoughts were stern and set; capturing Link alive was a must.

Kenshin: And that's what Cassandra and the others have been doing while Link, Taki and Maxi were inside those demon trial worlds. But don't worry; they won't really go through all three. In fact, by next chapter they-

Haou: Oi, ko no yarou! Don't spoil it! Let's get to work on that slave story.


	17. The Diamond Demon Emperor's Requiem

**__****__**

A Love Forged By Souls and Swords

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or Soul Calibur.

Ten Commandments: I am sorry for the late update. It's usually once a month for such a large amount of words to be published. And with my mind being focused on my anime fics and the ones with my ocs in them, I haven't the time to work on this one. My apologies, and so enjoy.

_**Chapter 17: The Diamond Demon Emperor's Requiem**_

* * *

Hidden deep within the swamp, a giant diamond hard skull is seen with glowing red eyes resting in the middle of a patch of grass. An explosion resounds to his left, as the skull's eyes point towards the area. The smoke disperses away, with Ganondorf sitting on top of a black horse in gold armor and saddle.

"You must be the powerful demon general that trapped my beloved Link away." The evil warlock says, grabbing a lance mounted on his horse.

"That is right; I am Kongokyu Housenki, the Diamond Demon General. I do not know of anyone by the name of Link, I'm afraid." The skull says, as his body hardens and shines through the sun's light.

"He's the boy you have in your trial world, and I shall rid both of us of you." Ganondorf jumps off the horse, then runs after the demon. A wall of diamonds rises from the ground and stops him. Diamond walls start to surround the warlock, blocking off even the ceiling for him.

"A foolish human like you cannot hope to-" Suddenly the walls shatter under some sort of tremendous evil aura. Ganondorf is shown standing tall within the destroyed circle.

"You thought you could trap me? Do you realize who I am?!" Ganondorf then holds his free hand towards Kongokyu, as red and black matter appear around it.

'I-Impossible!'

--

The burning golem throws a punch at Link, who jumps away in time. After landing Link runs away further from the monster. The beast towers towards him, then stops for some reason.

Link stares up at the pyromaniac, and notices its strange behavior. "What's wrong with it?"

The flaming beast turns around behind it, and walks that way. As it moves a portal opens up, allowing it to pass through it. Once it leaves Link finally gets to see the portal that it's going through. The elf runs for the portal, seeing it shrink quickly after the fire beast goes through.

--

Also elsewhere Taki and Maxi are still up against flaming snakes and the golem controlling them. But before Taki could initiate a jutsu the golem starts acting weird. "What the? Oh no. Master's in trouble!"

The golem then runs towards the edge of the island-like rock they were on, just as a portal opens up. Him and the snakes jump into it, just as the island tips over and slides our heroes down.

"What the hell was that about?" Maxi yells as they near the edge of the island.

"I don't know!" Taki notices the portal closing away slowly, and believes this is their biggest chance.

Taki grabs onto Maxi's arm, and uses her greatest speed to jump into the portal.

--

"Taste a bit of my diamond-hard hatred!!" Diamond spears shoot out from the ground, and strike Ganondorf. Instead of taking the blows he flies away into the air.

Tiny diamond shards fly from Kongoukyu's after standing up high like the hair on a pissed off cat. The shards go after Ganondorf, who holds up a barrier to block them. But unlike what he expected the shards pierce through his barrier and into his body.

"So it's true, diamonds have the ability to pierce through barriers. Amazing feature they have." Ganondorf brushes shards out from his body, having them fall to the ground.

"Pathetic. Now, surrender Link to me now!" Ganondorf quickly descends at high speed towards Kongoukyu, and pierces his fist into the demon's forehead. Blood and diamond shards fly from the skull, after the general was blown back by the forceful punch.

"Now, where is he?" Ganondorf holds his weapon over the demon's head.

"Ganondorf!" A voice calls out. Looking up Ganondorf smiles when he sees Link gliding down from a portal. Beside him was a giant pyro golem.

The giant monster lands first, and thrusts its fist at Ganondorf. The dark warlock blocks the fist with his barrier. With a single stroke of his weapon he releases a kenatsu ability that eradicates the golem's right half of its body.

Link rushes in through the golem's attack and vertically swings the Master Sword at the dark warlock, who blocks with his weapon. Taking a good look at it he could feel evil energy emitting from the sword. "Soul Edge?"

"This is just a simple lance with a fragment of Soul Edge embedded inside it." Ganondorf then pushes Link back, causing him to slide across the ground where the destroyed golem fell.

"Link, you're finally within my grasp." He says, then lunges his lance at him. Link blocks with the flat part of his sword.

"I'm not gonna lose to you again! I'll take you down for killing Zelda!!" Link then pushes the lance off his blade and slices at him. The Hyrulean misses with Ganondorf sidestepping it.

"Link!!" A feminine voice calls out. Link turns his face up in the sky and sees Taki and Maxi soaring down the sky towards him. A fat golem was beside them.

Link's two friends have landed beside him, with the golem crashing into the ground enough to cause an earthquake like the other did. It then calls out, "Housenki-sama!!"

The golem 'rolls' over to his master, who was lying where Ganondorf last crushed him. The diamond emperor glows his eyes, signalling that he has regained consciousness. "I am okay..."

"Housenki-sama, who did this to you?" The golem asks him. His eyes lock onto Ganondorf, who snickers at the threatening gaze. "So it was you!"

"Taiten, no!" The golem rolls over to Ganondorf for an attack, ignoring his master's calls. Without even trying Ganondorf stabs the lance through the golem's stomach, before it could even mount a punch.

'And he was so powerful...' Maxi thought to himself. The golem falls onto the lance's blade even more, until Ganondorf pushes it off.

"Let's see you stop this!!" Link then swings his sword hard at the warlock, releasing a powerful stream of energy at him.

'So this is what defeated Cervantes...' Ganondorf gathers dark energy into his lance through his hands, until the weapon illuminates with a dark aura.

"Gerudo Dragon!!" By swinging his weapon down at him Ganondorf releases his own stream of energy, one opposite in color to the bright colored stream of energy Link sends. Compared to Link's star light attack, Ganondorf's resembled dark red flames.

Their attacks collide with one another, blowing back rocks and debris from all around them. Soon Ganondorf's swallows up Link's and goes for him. The Hyrulean jumps out of the way before he was reduced to nothing, crashing on the ground in failure.

'Dammit. That attack can't hold against his...' Link muses over what he can try against the evil man. He reaches for his other weapons, but remembers that the only item he has on him is the wind controlling boomerang.

But before he could use it, Taki and Maxi run towards the dark warlock. He lands a punch while she mounts a kick, but Ganondorf blocks them both with his lance.

"Ahh, that's right. There were some of Link's comrads that came here for him..." Ganondorf then swings his lance, pushing back both the ninja and the pirate.

They both land easily on the side with a slide. Maxi looks at Link through the corner of his right eye. "Link, is he the one you're after?"

"Yeah. He's the bastard who sent Cervantes after us and brainwashed Yoshimitsu. He also killed my wife Zelda and started my hunt for Soul Edge in the first place..." Link says with much hate and malice. It's like all other emotions were taken away from him in that one moment.

Ganondorf looks at Link with a weird expression. "You think so..."

"Guess that means you're also the one who sent those damn lizardmen after us in the real world..." Taki states, pulling out Rekki-maru.

The diamond emperor looks up from where he is at Taki in response to her saying that they aren't from this world. 'They're outsiders..?'

"So what if I did? This whole plan to get rid of Link's comrads while I handle him myself would have worked had some people stayed out of the way!" Ganondorf then swings his lance at them releasing a stream of energy at her and Maxi.

Before it could reach them Link leaps in the way and throws the gale boomerang at the center of it, dispersing it into two paths so neither could reach his friends.

He stares at his great nemesis with such intense anger and hate. Ganondorf snickers like a sadistic uncle. "Such good eyes Link. They prove you have the soul of a true hero. But don't fret-"

Ganondorf quickly raises his lance to block the Master Sword swinging down at him with a barrier. Energy sparks between the sword and the barrier as Link tries his hardest to cut through it. "I'LL SHOW YOU THE SOUL OF A TRUE HERO!!"

"Ahh, what a fierce look in your eyes! You must have really loved Zelda to ignore your arm bleeding!" True to what he said Link's sword arm was bleeding from putting too much pressure on cutting through the barrier. For some reason he has caused his arm wounds to reopen from before.

"Link stop!! You won't be able to defeat him with only pure raw power!!" Taki yells, but it was useless. Link was too focused on his task; the death of Ganondorf.

"You should listen to your friends once in a while..." Ganondorf then swings his lance, knocking Link off of the barrier. No blood was spilt from the strike thank goodness.

"Kuso! Enryuu Kanten no jutsu!" After performing multiple hand seals Taki let's loose a stream of fire towards Ganondorf.

"Futile!" The flames hit the barrier head on, but do nothing to pierce through the barrier. Link finally rises back to his knees.

"Dammit! What do we have to do to get through that?!" Maxi runs for Ganondorf, swinging his nun chaku at him. His assault does nothing against him, and only bounce off the barrier.

"Futile! Futile! It's futile!!" Ganondorf grabs the nun chaku after dispelling the barrier, then swings Maxi down onto the ground after lifting him into the air.

Ganondorf then stomps his foot down onto his skull, as blood spews out from his mouth. Taki lights up with anger and dashes straight for Ganondorf, performing multiple handseals.

"Get away from him!! Ryuusenka no Jutsu!" She releases a giant ice dragon from her mouth towards Ganondorf.

"Your friends are all foolish Link." The barrier reappears around Ganondorf, and protects him as the dragon bites down on the barrier. It goes flying away into the skies with him.

Taki gets down to help Maxi up. "Maxi, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. My head hurts like hell though." He says, looking back at Taki as she carries him back to Link.

The hyrulean was sulking to himself, while cringing in pain he was receiving thanks to his reckless behavior. "Link, are you okay?"

Link does nothing to respond to her. She seems worried in his weird behavior. "Link?"

"He's just being a baby. He'll be fine once we-"

"Once you what?" Ganondorf descends down from up high, like the cursed angel straight out of hell.

"I suspected that wouldn't work..." Ganondorf swings his lance at Taki and Maxi, sending them down to the ground in pain.

Taki prepares to perform another jutsu, but before she could Ganondorf appears before her and grips tightly on her neck. She grabs hold onto the warlock's arm in hopes to get free, but all chances prove futile.

"Taki!" Link finally snaps out of his stupor and runs after him along side Maxi, but both are knocked to the side by his barrier.

Link returns to his sulking while Maxi gets back up on his feet. 'I can't even pierce through that barrier...Am I not strong enough to fight him? Can't I avenge Zelda?'

"Oi, kuzo." Link comes out of his thoughts to look at who called out to him, the skull head that was Kongokyu. "You aren't of this world or the world on the other side are you?"

"Y-You can tell? Who are you?" Link asks the skull. The diamond demon glares its red eyes at Link.

"I am the one who trapped you in those worlds, you and your friends. But since you are here I might as well listen to your request..." He says, blood leaking out from his eyes and skull fracture.

"So you'e Kongoukyu; we need one of those dimension creating gems you can make to send us back to the other side of the well." He asks him, while Taki stabs Mekki-maru into the warlock's body. He then throws her back in response, as Maxi jumps in the way and catches her.

"Can't have you dying on us, now can I Taki?" Maxi says, to which Taki smiles and nods to.

After setting her down to her feet the both of them finally notice Link talking to Kongokyu. "What is that idiot doing now? Me and Taki were just about to be slaughtered while he's shooting the briefs."

"Hey, pay attention!!" Ganondorf swings his lance and releases a stream of energy at them, but both fighters get out of the way in time.

"So you came through the well after all...I am sorry; I cannot forge one for another year." The diamond demon emperor says. Link gasps in shock, their final hope gone with those words. "Since world portal creation requires so much energy it takes about a full year for me to create a diamond gem and infuse energy to develop a portal that will appear when used. You should try the well again; it should lead back to your world once you go through it again."

"But then...that's it." Taki and Maxi clash at Ganondorf with their weapons as Link talks, but are knocked down by his barrier and lance. "I've lost. I can't pierce through the barrier over the well, and there's no way I can defeat Ganondorf with my power level...I can never see Cassandra again..."

"A barrier you say?" The emperor was intrigued by the mention of a barrier protecting the well. He then suspects that Ganondorf did that too. "If you want to return to your friends then stab the hilt of your sword into my left eye."

Link was surprised by his sudden words. "What?"

"The eye of diamond summoning lies within that socket; attach it to your sword's hilt and your blade will be able to summon forth diamond spears that can pierce through any barrier." The demon explains, as more blood pours from his wound.

"But," Link didn't see the logic in giving away his powers. "What'll happen to you?"

"I'm already finished. That dark aura has already poisoned me, and I'll be dying within a matter of hours..." He says, as the red lights of his eyes begin to fade.

"But, why do you want to help me?" Link asks, trying to figure out why he would go through all this.

"Heh. Who knows...I guess, because I can understand you..." The skull says, as more blood comes down his forehead.

Link then looks back at his friends fighting against Ganondorf, and losing, then returns his gaze at Kongokyu. "I just jab it in there right?"

"That's right." Link hesitates in what he has to do, but eventually he jabs his sword into the demon's eye.

A dazzling rainbow light emits from within his eye, as Link's sword begins to harden with diamond shards. They then recede into the sword's hilt as he pulls it out.

"What the?" Link looks at the sword in shock, then turns his attention to Kongokyu, who was gaining fractures all over its body.

"Wow, it feels like a giant load has been lifted off of me...I'll be leaving now..." He says, as his body now begins to rot from within. Link grits his teeth in frustration, which is kinda strange; Why would he care for someone he never met before?

Regardless Link runs after Ganondorf, his heart still burning with revenge. 'This better work...'

* * *

"You two aren't even worth fighting..." Ganondorf bellows, stomping twice on Maxi's back.

Taki was being held by the throat, repeatingly kicking him for freedom. "Let go of us you bastard!!"

"Not until the life stops in you." Ganondorf jumps into the air, flying of course, then descends down at high speed slamming Taki front first into Maxi's body.

The both of them cough up blood, and try their best to rise up. But for these two nakama, their pain was just that much greater than the strength of their will. No future seems to be their fortune.

The evil warlock draws his Soul Edge powered weapon, the light gleaming off the hardened metal blade. Ganondorf's dark eyes radiate with a deadly shining illumination.

"Don't even think about it!!" Link yells out from down below. Ganondorf glares down at his fable opponent, and witnesses the man he has searched for this whole time staring up at him.

"Link, don't worry. I'll take you away real soon; just need to exterminate a few pest-"

"Shooting Stardust!!" Link swings his blade at the despised man, releasing his cosmic blast of starlight proportions.

The attack radiates through the air, shining its bright white and blue colors fabulously towards Ganondorf for total destruction. His greatest of nemeses develops a grand barrier to block said attack, preventing it from reaching him totally.

Link grits his teeth in anger at his failed attack. "Dammit...how do I work that damn amulet thing!?"

The barrier over Ganondorf lifts. "So, you want to defeat me..."

"I'll kill you that's what!!" Link roars, his heart plagued by the total desire of destruction.

As he begins to charge, his heartbeat resonates louder and faster than usual, as if his life was in extreme danger. Link then falls to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. 'That hurt...what's wrong with my heart?'

"Link!" Both Maxi and Taki yell, then try to rise up to help him. Both only Maxi is able to muster enough raw energy to stand right.

"Is something wrong?" Ganondorf asks sneeringly, not knowing what was truly going on.

The necklace still around Link's neck gleams in the light of the sun, as Link tries his best to regain himself. 'My heart is in pain...but why? Is it because of my hatred?'

He then thinks it over, as Maxi helps up Taki over his shoulder. 'My heart is set on killing Ganondorf. I can't look at this fight so viciously. I need to calmly fight against him, without remembering the terrible things he could have done to Zelda to kill him...'

After coming to this new realization his heartbeat returns to normal, and the pain disappears. "It worked..."

"Have you finished with whatever it is you're doing?" Ganondorf asks the boy, then lands down towards him.

Link does not hesitate to landing a punch in Ganondorf's face. The slug knocks Ganondorf back a bit, causing him to walk backwards a bit due to it. He then looks at Link totally flabbergasted, blood leaking from his mouth.

'I forgot to put up the barrier, and he caught me off guard. I cannot let my mission get in the way of the plan...' His thoughts continue through his mind.

Link swings his blade at the warlock, but unlike last time he does not reveal a nasty blood-lust like before, though he still has a bit of rage in him. Ganondorf swings his lance to block the strike, but that only blows him back.

It was obvious who's power was stronger there. Ganondorf stands back up onto his feet, forming his barrier. "So, you're must better than before...but you'll never be able to defeat me."

"Please work..." Link pleads quietly, lifting his sword up over his head. He then swings the Master Sword at the warlock.

Both of them were totally surprised when they saw that Link's sword had cut into the barrier. Ganondorf was even more surprised when he saw that Link has sliced into his body as well. A trail of blood flies out from where Link cut him, and the evil warlock falls onto his back.

The barrier around him diminishes, as Ganondorf looks up at Link. "How did you-"

Ganondorf then gasps when he sees that the Master Sword has gained a diamond blade. The sword gleams beautifully in the daylight sun, blindly shining upon both of them. The amulet on the end of the sword also glows with the same solar shine as the blade.

"What the? How did you do that?!" Link runs after Ganondorf at full speed, yelling out to increase his cutting strength.

Ganondorf blocks once more with his lance, but this time his weapon starts to crack upon touching the blade. 'It's breaking?'

Link's necklace was shining, actually shining, this time on its own, though neither of them noticed it. The only one who did was Taki who saw the faint glow coming from the accessory.

Ganondorf pushes Link back before he could cut through the entire lance, and flies up into the skies. "You will be mine no matter what! Take this!!"

Ganondorf raises his lance high above himself, as the Soul Edge fragment attached to the weapon shines with dark energy. The evil warlock then swings his lance down at Link, roaring while releasing an enormous stream of black energy that resembled darkness itself towards him.

"This upgrade better be as good as he said; Shooting Stardust!!" Link lets loose his own kenatsu ability, remembering the name he gave it. The starlight radiance flares across the air towards Ganondorf's own attack, complied with multiple spears of diamond shards larger than spartan weaponry.

"What!?" Ganondorf's attack is completely blown away by Link's move, and continues towards him. Ganondorf raises his barrier once more.

The diamond spears reach Ganondorf first, and slice apart his only shield. All remaining shards stab into his body all over. The starlight kenatsu blast crashes into his body, eradicating him once and for all.

Link makes a satisfied smile, finally glad to see that he has avenged his wife; his life can continue now.

But as that blast annihilates the warlock, only Taki was shown to be upset. 'There's something wrong...why doesn't he have a shadow?'

* * *

Kenshin: And there you go; Link's Kenatsu attack has a name. Also he receives a new item, just like in normal Zelda games...sort of...anyway, sorry again for the late update. We really like this story.

Haou: We'll see you all again next time.


	18. The Friend's Reunion

**__****__**

A Love Forged By Souls and Swords

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or Soul Calibur.

Dante: Hello. I'm the new host for this story. TCM, Kenshin and Haou are busy hosting Echo and Luffy's Siblings. As you probably don't know, I can move at the speed of sound. And I'll now turn to the story so fast I'll create a sonic boom.

_**Chapter 18: The Reunion and The Old Cathedral**_

* * *

Ganondorf's body falls flat onto the ground, some sort of black blood expelling from the wounds cloaking his body. The sound of bones breaking accompanies the noise of painful screams. His lance evaporates into a million grains of dust, accompanied by a single shining red light.

Link breathes in and out deeply in an attempt to calm himself and his heart down, especially after what happened last time. His sword slams down onto the ground, the hilt still in his hands. He looks out at Ganondorf's body, then gasps in horror.

"Link! What's wrong?!" Maxi calls out, prying himself off of Taki to move closer to him. Taki stands there unmoving; maybe she realized it before he did.

"This isn't him..." Link says in a low voice, veins pulsating on his forehead and in his eyes. The Hyrulean falls to his knees, gritting his teeth in anger.

"What?" Maxi asked him, not understanding what he was saying.

"That's nothing more than a clone; that's why it didn't have a shadow." Taki answers the pirate. Maxi gapes his mouth open in shock.

"I could barely hold my own against a mere clone of him...he's that strong...?" Link was devastated when he thought this all completely over.

The false Ganondorf is soon consumed by its black blood, until it explodes into black smoke. The smoke itself flies away into the sky, until suddenly disappearing away. From the skies, a red glittering light falls down to the ground and plops before Link; the piece of Soul Edge that was inside of the lance was liberated.

"It was just a stupid clone...I received a power up to defeat a-oh! Kongokyu!!" Link turns his head over to the diamond skull, but he only saw a big lump of dark purple soil. The emperor was gone.

"He's gone...he died so I could defeat him..." Link says, sounding totally depressed. He couldn't help but feel so helpless; a living being died just so Link could defeat a clone he could not even touch before.

"Link, people die every day. Whether it happens because of someone else's fault, a freak accident or because they were being foolish for a single moment; they die. A hero like you should know that..." Taki lectures him, thinking he felt bad over the Diamond Emperor's death.

"That's not why I'm bummed out...I'm upset over how weak I am..." Link says, looking down and falling to his knees. 'I'll never be able to avenge Zelda at this rate. I need to get stronger...for her and Cassa-Cassandra!'

"We need to get back to the well!" Link says to the two. He then gets down to pick up the piece of Soul Edge he took.

Maxi and Taki blink in reaction to his sudden order. Taki then asks, "What? Why?"

"That guy gave me this crystal thing. He said it would allow us to get rid of Ganondorf's barriers." Link says, then ran off into a random direction.

Maxi scratches his head. "Where are you going?"

Link stops dead in his tracks and looks back at them. "What are you stupid? I'm going back to the well!"

"But Link," Taki points to a totally different direction. "The swamp exit is over there."

Link looks over at where Taki was pointing, and scuffs. "Yeah right. We just came here out of nowhere. Do you really think it's going to be that way?"

--

"Well, we made it out." Taki says. In the end Link decided to follow her directions, and just as she predicted they made it out of the marsh swamp.

Link was fuming in rage. 'Dammit...how did she know?'

Taki turns around to face Link. "Note to self Link; never contradict a ninja's sense of direction."

Link looks to the side. "Don't make me beat you up."

"Usso da na.(You'er lying.) You know you would never really hurt me." Taki snaps back, pointing out Link's sense of camaraderie. She has the same one, since ninjas have to rely on teamwork especially on missions.

"Link, stop threatening to kill women. You know you'll never have the balls to do it." Maxi says to him, to which Taki smiles at the pirate for. Link then starts to wonder why Maxi and Taki are both ganging up on him. Those two have met for what, 1 day, and for some reason they're suddenly good friends.

"That's not true; I killed a woman before...although she was two old hags formed into one..." Link says, remembering the events of the Spirit Temple in the Ocarina of Time.

"You killed two old women that were fused together into one?" Maxi asks him, having stopped walking. Taki did as well.

Link nods to him. Maxi then pales trying to think up what exactly did he mean in that situation. "I don't even wanna know the details..."

"...you've...got a weird imagination, ya know?"

--

Hours have past since those Lizardmen made an attempt at taking Cassandra's life. Day has finally reached the area. Cassandra, Kilik, Xianghua, and Spawn are all waiting beside the well, after suspecting that Link, Taki and Maxi may have something to do with the barrier over it.

"There's no way it could be mere coincidence; their footprints are shown going towards the well." Spawn says, checking the area around the well on the ground.

"Will Link be okay?" Cassandra asks, looking down at the well in depression.

"She still only thinks about him...I hate passionate love. It makes companionate love non-existent." Xianghua says, slowly and hardly shaking her head.

"She has companionate love for Link too. They're good for each other, especially since they act alike." Kilik mutters to his Asian lover. The Chinese swordswoman quickly turns to Kilik as her mouth falls down in shock.

"What? How do you figure that?"

"Link and Cassandra are partners in battle. They are not afraid to die for the other but will put their trust in them if necessary. Also, Link tends to act really stupid and is very protective of the people they love, just as Cassy is. After all, why would Cassandra want Link to give up fighting?" Kilik's explanation becomes very clear to Xianghua, so much that a bright light appears behind her.

No seriously, a light does appear behind Xianghua, or more exactly it comes up from the well. Cassandra was looking down at the well at this moment, and then gasped when she realized the light. Out from the darkness starlight flares up at the woman. She quickly pulls her head back, but has a part of her hair incinerated in the front.

Cassandra falls down on her butt, just as Spawn, Kilik and Xianghua turn to face her. The stardust light was compiled with diamond shards that just made the brightness ever so beautiful to look at. The light also destroyed the barrier from behind, as it shoots up into the skies.

Then, up from the well leaps Link with the Master Sword in his hands. He lands onto the side of the well, trying his best not to fall down. "Wow!! That was a close one!"

"Link, hurry up and move! We don't want to see your butt!" Maxi yells, then pushes Link from behind and knocks him flat on his face. He then pulls his head up from the ground.

Taki climbs up from the well after Maxi, who helps her up. 'I was actually enjoying looking at Maxi's butt...'

"Well at least we made it back! All my fears have been alleviated!" Link says while laughing, not noticing the others were there, or the malicious killer intent protruding above him.

"Yeah whatever-huh?" Maxi then sees Xianghua and Kilik with Spawn. Taki sees them as well, leaving Link the only one clueless.

"What's wron-" Link was about to say something when suddenly a fist connects to the top of his head.

He holds the top of his head in pain, cursing in a low voice. "Dammit. Who the hell did-"

Link pauses and shudders all over when he sees Cassandra standing above him. Beyond her there was a dark aura over her. '...I smell death...'

"Link...were you the one who blasted that ray of light through the well?" Link's eyes dilate and his breathing becomes shallow. He soon could even feel his heartbeat; this was the scariest thing he's ever seen.

"Uh...I might have-" That was all she needed; Cassandra does not hesitate to slam her fist into Link's cheek. With his face on the ground she then goes on to stomping it even farther into the dirt.

Everyone else watches in fear, as Xianghua asks Kilik, "Is Link really like Cassandra?"

"Well atleast they're all alive, sort of..." - Spawn

--

"So you three ended up in an alternate dimension?" Spawn asks them, as Link puts on cream all over the bumps, bruises and wounds that he got from Cassandra. The reunited warriors are now at their original camping site still within the woods.

"Yup; we saw demons, other people, even a clone of Ganondorf." Taki says, as Link's bumps finally heal somewhat miraculously.

"A clone of Ganondorf huh? So since you're all here that means you beat him." Spawn then asks. Cassandra sighs while looking in the tent, where they left Sophitia after her Claire episode.

"Link received a diamond summoning item from a demon and used it to destroy his barrier. It also helped get rid of the one blocking the barriers keeping us separate." Taki replies, rubbing her stomach hungrily. "You know, I don't think we've eaten that whole time we've been there."

"I have." Link says, contradicting her extremely. The ninja punches him in the face.

"Well we've had a bit of trouble here as well. I assume Taki and Maxi told you about the Lizardmen right Link?" Kilik tells Link, who was rubbing more cream on his face.

"Yup. That only hastened our trip back here." Link states, looking at Cassandra through the corner of his eye. He was also wondering why she wasn't extremely happy to see him, and instead beat the shit out of him.

Maxi lies on his back bored and tired at the fact that he did not get any sleep at all. "Whatever. We're back, the Lizardmen are gone, and that's all that matters."

Link, still sad at the scorn Cassandra gave him, sighes. Cassandra then suddenly says, "That's not all that happened; my sister saved my life, then acted like a totally different person."

"Really?" Link says, then searches around for Sophitia. "Where is she?"

"She's still sleeping in the tent. She hasn't spoken a word ever since then..." Xianghua says, pointing at the tent.

Link makes a depressing sigh. "So what now? Do we go continue our mission and search out Ganondorf once more?"

"Well, first we have to wait for Sophitia to wake up, then we can move on." Taki states, as Link nods in agreement. Link then looks over at Cassandra.

"Cassandra, what do you say?"

"I agree. But I don't want her to be put in such danger. We'll have to return her." The Alexandra says, as Link smiles in noticing she's finally looking at him. She then smiles back.

"I would like to suggest something." Maxi interjects, as everyone now looks at him. "One of us could take her home while the rest tackle the cathedral."

"You would take her back?" Link asks him.

"Dude, I'm not going." Maxi replies quickly.

"Then who's going to go? It should be someone quick enough to take her and return in time." Taki asks abruptly. Link and the rest of them turn to face her, stars in all but Spawn's eyes.

Taki sweat drops at all the eyes looking at her. "Wh-what's with all the stares?!"

"Who here is the fastest?" - Link

"I believe ninjas are the best at speed." - Spawn

"Neh, Kunoichi-san?" - Xianghua

"Well since you brought it up you will have to do it." - Kilik

"You're a wonderful woman, Taki." - Maxi

"I have so much respect for you!" - Cassandra

"I HAVEN'T AGREED TO THIS!!"

--

"Fine, I'll do it." Taki concedes to their pestering. Cassandra and Link then rise up.

"Then it's settled; when Sophitia wakes up Taki will take her back. Then she'll return back to our camp site here where we'll leave directions for her in case one of us finds the cathedral." Link says, then looking back at his friends he smiles confidently. "In the meantime I'll head out and catch some fish."

Link then grabs his sword and a fishing pole and heads out to search for a place to fish. Cassandra walks by the tent and grabs some clothes and a towel. Maxi plops onto the ground, lying on his back to sleep. "Well, we might as well rest for the moment."

Taki smiles slightly while looking at Maxi. "I guess. We've worn the same clothes all day. It would feel nice to change."

"I'm gonna go take a bath." Cassandra says. Xianghua was with Kilik in the woods, having some alone time.

Spawn was in the trees, looking at a locket in his hand. "But Link is fishing. Won't he end up seeing you nude?"

Cassandra pouts while staring at the dark man. "Like I'll let him. Besides, I'm going to the other side."

She then walks off with her towel and change of clothes and heads off to bathe. Spawn sighs, as Taki says, "10 pieces of gold says he'll see her birthday suit."

"Do you have any gold?" Spawn states, to which Taki nods. "Fine, I'll bet 20 he does."

'What's the point of betting on the same outcome?' Maxi says in his mind while still lying down.

--

"Dammit. This isn't working." Link says, trying to fix his fishing pole for the second time in twenty minutes. He then gives up finally, and throws it to the ground.

"Fine, I'll do this the old fashion way." Link removes his clothes, stripping down to his underwear but leaving his sword on his back. His appearance at this moment shows the fact that he still cannot take the necklace off. This also confirms that people back then had underwear.

"Alright, I'll just jump in and grab a big one." Link takes in a deep breath, then jumps into the lake head first.

Underwater Link continues to swim, holding in his breath pretty well considering his previous injuries. But it seems even they've been healed up, as he swims those wounds are shown to be completely gone. Link dives deeper under the lake, and sees a crustacean.

The Hyrulean moves closer to it, his face in front of the hole where the insect comes out. As he looks down at it, the crustacean comes out from the shell, and all he saw was a head.

While Link makes a freaked out face, the head looks up at Link, then says, "Hi."

The fact that it spoke made Link gasp out some air. Link then swims away at top speed, offending the shell guy thing. It looks at Link and yells, "Hey, what gives?!"

Link swims far away from the shell, and sees a large fish tail sticking out from beside a rock. Link grabs onto the tail, and starts to pull it out. He pulls out the fish, revealing it to be even bigger than he figured. It was as big as one of those Sea Kings in One Piece.

'Oh shit.' The giant fish opens its mouth at Link, roaring underwater. The Hero of Time grabs onto his Master Sword, as diamond shards gather onto it.

'Time to practice my new move; Diamond Spear Burst!' Link swings his sword at the monstrous fish, releasing a flurry of diamond spears at it. Each one pierces into the monster's stomach and chest, as blood leaks out from its mouth and melds within the water.

Link then swims closer to the fish, stabbing his sword into it. He lifts his hands up, slicing upward. Link's attack carves open the beast's stomach, causing stomach acid, chewed up food, blood and a large lump to pour out.

Just as Link was about to resurface, he sees a human form floating to him. Link is then freaked out by its grim appearance, even as it floats to the surface. That last shock also caused Link to release too much air, forcing him to rise back up to the surface.

--

Cassandra was wiping herself up and down with a rag while sitting in shallow water, paying extra attention down below. As she bathes the Alexandra looks up into the skies, thinking about her soon to be husband.

"I do want to marry him, but I have a feeling he still loves that dead woman...no. I'm just being paranoid." Cassandra says, now wiping her arms and under pits. It's safe to say she has no hair under there.

She then smiles, while blood rises to the surface. "No. I don't have to worry; even if Link still loves her, she's dead. I know he'll rather live for me than die for her...I hope..."

She then notices the blood appearing from the deeper end of the water. Then suddenly, out from the water pops Link's head. He was breathing hard, and veins were visible on his eyeballs.

Link finally notices her. "CASSANDRA!!"

His sudden weirdness shocks her, as he swims closer to her. "Cassy! There's this guy over there who's hurt! He was-"

"Link, do you realize the situation you're in?" Cassandra asks him, her eyes tensing up.

Link finally calms down, and looks at her. "What? What's wrong?"

He finally looks at her, then notices something very important; something that means instant death to him and any guy who isn't married to her to do this.

Cassandra was naked.

Link's face stretches all the way down, blood sprayed out of his nose onto her chest, and his pupils dilate.

--

"So, who is this guy?" Taki asks, looking down from the log she sat on at the unconscious person Link brought out. "He looks to be still alive."

Everyone was staring interested at the miraculously still alive person; he was a pale Caucasian with a healed slash wound coming down from his right eye and blond hair that hasn't been brushed in months it seems. His body was ripped and torn left and right, wounds covering parts of him that shouldn't.

As everyone checks him over, Link sits there staring at the ground. His face was grotesquely swollen, the punishment he gets for peeping. Maxi then says, "He doesn't look alive, but let's put him out of his misery in case."

Cassandra, Taki and Xianghua kick/punch Maxi in the head, sending him down to the ground face forward. "I was just kidding."

"Let's take him back to Athens with Sophitia so he'll get some more help." Kilik says, walking over to the tent to check on Sophitia. He blinks in shock when before his eyes he sees nothing there.

Sophitia was gone!

"Uh, Cassandra?" Kilik speaks in a questioning voice. Cassandra turns to face him.

"Huh? What?" Cassandra asks him, wondering what he could want. She shuffles her body around to sit better.

"Your sister is missing." At this Cassandra's eyes went incredibly wide, then rises up quickly. She rushes over to the tent to see if he was joking. He wasn't. "Sister?! Where are you?!"

"Sophitia's gone?" Link asks once to confirm. He then gets up along with Taki to see if the woman was really gone.

Cassandra pops back out from the tent, and looks at Link with tears collecting in her eyes. "Link, she's gone. She's not here!"

Link looks into the tent. "Where could she have gone? She wouldn't have left if she knew you were here."

"Well, I was to watch her and make sure she didn't leave or anything. I didn't even notice she left..." Xianghua says in shame, looking down to try and cope with her uselessness.

'She's real useless...' Spawn thought, not believing how something like that could happen.

"GUWAAAAAAAHHHH!!" The man Link found underwater gasps out, waking up and finally noticing where he is. Our group of protagonists look back at him, and notice that he has green eyes that expose a pink yolk instead of white which shows that the person could have been crying allot.

"Where...where am I..." He calls out between gasps. Taki and Maxi run to his side.

"Are you okay?" Taki asks him, as he coughs up a minor amount of blood.

"Am I...am I still of this world..." He asks her, grasping onto his large chest wound.

"Yes. Link carved you out of a giant fish's stomach. What happened to you?" Maxi says, noticing his weird accent.

The man looks away, then says, "I'm a tortured soul who only wishes to repent for his old ways...I couldn't live with myself if I allowed that evil sword to continue killing, especially in his hands..."

Taki, Maxi, Link, Cassandra and Xianghua gasp, then Taki says, "Soul Edge? You were fighting against someone with Soul Edge?"

The man then thinks over what he last remembers. "That's what I last remember...he called himself Ga-Ga-Ganon-"

"Ganondorf?" Link interjects, getting into the conversation.

The man nods. "Yes, that's his name. I want to take the sword away from him so much..."

"What's your name, and what history do you have with Soul Edge?" Spawn asks, stomping over things while moving closer to him.

"My name is Siegfried Schtauffen, but a few years ago I went by another name." The man now identified as Siegfried speaks, looking up into the skies. "Nightmare."

Taki, Maxi, Xianghua and Kilik gasp in shock at what he says; that name was so familiar to them it hurts. Kilik then question him. "Wait a moment; you're telling me you're the sick bastard who tried to kill us all those years ago?! That's not something you joke about!"

"I'm not joking. That sword, it took control of me; made me into something ugly. Before I knew it the power made me into him..." Siegfried says, not caring how hurt Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua are.

Maxi then grips him by whatever's left of his collar. "If you're really Nightmare, then how did you become free?"

"...Soul Calibur." Those two words spark an interest in Xianghua and Link's eyes. Siegfried continues with, "I found the sword in a secret shrine. I used it to free myself from Soul Edge. I had no idea that the sword would become corrupted."

"...Corrupted?" Xianghua grabs the right non gripped side of his collar, and yells, "What the hell did you do to my mother's sword!?"

"Your what?" Link and Taki were surprised by what she means by that.

"That sword was a family heirloom that was given to me by my dear mother; where is it?!" She yells at him. Siegfried looks down in shame.

"I had plans to restore both blades to their original forms, but someone got in the way, and stole them both from me." Siegfried's words reached all of our beloved heroes, bringing a bit of understanding into their eyes.

Link then walks over to him with Cassandra, who has stayed quiet this whole time due to Sophitia's disappearance, and asks, "Was it Ganondorf?"

"...I don't know. There were taken from me after he knocked me out. I didn't even get to see his face..." Siegfried says, remembering the events of that day.

'He was caught off guard? What a weakling...' Cassandra and Link say in their thoughts while not knowing how strong he really is.

"I'm sorry I don't know where Soul Calibur is. I tried to get back the other sword from that Ganondorf when I was defeated by him and left inside this lake. I don't know how I ended up in a fish's stomach." Siegfried's words cause Xianghua to sigh in depression; she'll never get to see her sword again.

Cassandra sighs as well; things have become allot stranger ever since this 'Sulubo' character appeared from out of her sister; the true wielder of Soul Calibur, reuniting with this owner, and now Nightmare. Were things ever going to be okay for her, Link and the others?

"But I do know where Soul Edge is. It's in a cathedral near a town I left days ago..."

* * *

Dante: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. TCM's already working on the next one, even as I speak. Have a good life until next time.


	19. The Triforce's Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. Nintendo and Namco do.

Dante: Enjoy the show, and sorry for the long wait. It takes time to get inspiration to write the right things, atleast that's what TCM says.

**Chapter 19: The Reunion of The Triforce**

* * *

Link, Cassandra, Maxi, Spawn, Kilik and Xianghua are at the moment walking through town, moving as a group through the crowd of people. It was a rather busy town, with so many people shopping, talking, or eating.

"So what should we be looking for?" Maxi asks, looking around the place.

Link moves forward past the crowd of people, the others not too far behind. Cassandra starts to get stuffed within the massive throng of innocent people, then begins knocking down everyone in her way through the use of fists. She calls out for her lover, "Link! Wait up! Where are you going?!"

"Dammit, he better know where he's going. I didn't get to wash my hair because of his haste." Xianghua mutters in anger while following after Cassandra. "That elf probably doesn't even know where to go!"

Spawn seems determined. "No. The sword's close by. He must be following the dark energy to its source."

Everyone stares at Al Simmons intently, and notice that he's completely serious. Cassandra looks at him and asks, "What do you mean?"

"I can tell he is able to sense evil energy. That's just the type of person Link is..." Spawn says to her, then notice she's totally upset. "You hadn't notice that before?"

"No..." Cassandra wasn't expecting them to go after Soul Edge so soon. That whole episode of Link confessing to her and disappearing has still made her shaky and believing that he'll leave her. That one thought frightens her more than anything.

And so with this in mind she runs off to find him, the others trekking behind. Maxi and Xianghua groan as he complains, "Dammit, don't leave us behind!"

Link finally passes by the town, and sees a trail up ahead of him. He runs down the path, his eyes flaring with rage. 'Ganondorf, I know you're close by. I'll kill you no matter what.'

"Link..." Cassandra says, catching up to him from a few feet behind.

--

Link finally comes to a stop, and sees a giant old building before him. It was covered in vines and looked centuries past its expiration date, and devastated by age and corrosion. The Hyrulean could feel evil energy leaking from this old church, this...

"It's a cathedral." Link whispers in astonishment.

"Link! Stop leaving us behind!" Cassandra shouts, ready to punch his skull down to earth. She freezes in shock when she sees the cathedral.

Everyone comes before the building, staring in awe at the ancient relic. "It seems we found it."

"Finally..." Link mutters to himself, back to focusing on avenging Zelda. Cassandra walks up behind him and punches his lights out.

"Idiot! Why didn't you wait for us?! Aren't we your friends?" Cassandra yells at him, mad that he would leave them behind.

Link rubs his head. "I'm sorry. I was just so caught up in fighting..." He lies, not wanting her to know he's still focused on Zelda.

"You're lying." Taki mutters, but to herself so it sounded like a whisper.

Cassandra then looks up at the cathedral. "Well, it seems we found it. Soul Edge should be inside right?"

Cassandra and Link walk first to the old building, ready to enter inside it. Spawn though didn't think it was a good idea.

"Hold on..." Spawn warns everyone, stopping the couple from moving any further. The Hellspawn walks up to the cathedral, and places a hand onto the side.

As soon as he touches it though, he feels his hand burn slightly. Smoke emits from where his hand touched it. "There's a sort of barrier over this thing."

"Is that so?" Link states, then grabs the hilt of his sword and draws it. A look of confidence appears on his face. "I'll just slice it open with my blade."

"Wait...the barrier on this is too close to the building. You'll only destroy it as well." Spawn informs Link, who sighs while replacing his sword back into his sheath.

"So we can't destroy it?" He asks Al, after sitting down on a couple of rocks.

Spawn studies the barrier a bit more, looking up at a window where they might be able to get in. "I believe this barrier may have a weak point. A strong impact might be able to get through that single point."

Taki looks up at where Spawn is staring. "So you're saying there's a spot on that barrier that can be broken through?"

"Yup." Spawn says, then points at the two windows he was looking at earlier. "Right there."

Kilik and Xianghua are the first to look up at were Spawn was pointing, then came Maxi, Link and Cassandra. Taki performs a couple of hand seals, then yells out, "Hinotama no Jutsu!"

A fire ball flies towards the mirror area, blasting an opening into it. That attack renders the rest of the building to show a bright red veil over it while the impact site reveals an opening. Link gets up and says, "Now, how do we get in there?"

Spawn turns towards Link, then grabs onto his tunic's collar. Using pure brute strength he tosses Link up into that very hole.

"WHAT THE HELL!!" He yells as he goes soaring into the air. Soon he crashes into the multi-colored window, breaking through the glass just as soon as the barrier was closing back up.

"LINK!!" Cassandra face faults at the sight of her beloved Link being tossed through a window. She then glares evilly at Spawn and shrieks, "WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

"He's inside the barrier." Spawn says, not noticing the ever growing glares to him.

"WELL DUH! YOU THREW HIM IN THERE!!" Taki, Maxi, Xianghua and Cassandra all yell at Al at once.

Spawn looks back at the others, who have returned their faces to normal. "No. Soul Edge is there."

All of them gasp at Spawn's revelation, and it intensifies as he continues with, "And it's owner as well."

Cassandra starts to show a face of sternness. "Can you throw me up there?"

--

"Ow, dammit! Spawn should have thought that over..." Link complains, rubbing his head in pain. A small lump is visible where he was touching.

"Well, well, well, speak of the devil." A dark ominous voice bellows out. Link looks to his right, and sees Ganondorf standing above him.

"You!" Link soon grows enraged upon seeing the warlock. He grabs hold of his sword and rises up. "I've finally found you!"

"Yes, and you've found your way onto one of my servants." Ganondorf says, pointing down below Link at an unconscious person. He wears the clothes of a French noble but had red eyes and dark skin.

"Who are you?" - Link

"That there is Raphael Sorel. He's a recent addition who joined my cult of followers after he was cursed." Ganondorf states, then points to a red glowing sword before a large window painting. "There's Soul Edge."

"So that's Soul Edge..." Link then stands up to his feet, gripping tightly on his sword. "I've been waiting for this moment; now I can finally kill you for taking Zelda away from me!"

"You think that..." Ganondorf pushes his right palm forward, knocking Link into a wall. "I'm gonna have to knock you out before I can-"

Ganondorf gets knocked to the ground as Cassandra flies through the window and clunks heads with them. Link of course is surprised by this.

"Ow my head." Cassandra mutters, rubbing the side of her skull. Link runs to her side.

"Cassandra! Did Spawn throw you too?" He stops when a sword swings at his neck. He backs away in time to dodge it, and sees Raphael standing on his feet. "You again..."

"Link-" Cassandra's throat is gripped by a very large hand, which lifts her two inches up off the ground. Ganondorf is seen towering above her.

"HEY! Let her go!!" The Hyrulean swings his blade at Raphael to get him out of the way, but the former French noble blocks with his own sword, a rapier. "Get out of my way!!"

"I cannot, unless I can get what I want I must." Raphael pushes Link back with relative ease. They clash swords once more.

"Link, help..." Cassandra whimpers through gasps, trying her best to pull free.

Ganondorf drags a struggling Greek woman towards the end of the hall, as a rainbow colored portal appears before him. Link looks at the doorway, and gasps; images of that dream he had flashing back into his mind.

_"Link," Zelda began, holding the middle of her boy/girl chest with both hands. "You promised your eternal love to me once, swearing you would never love another person like me again..yet you have easily given up on me for someone else!"_

_"Zelda-"_

_"Don't interrupt me!" She interrupted, then flicked her left hand fingers. This caused another wall to appear, and this one had someone on it too: A badly beaten Cassandra. "After being driven apart from you for so long, I have never stopped loving you...even the pain of being inside of his body all this time, having to suffer while gaining control over it..."_

_"Cassandra! What is the meaning of this Zelda!?" Link asked, still trying to pull himself free, regardless of how futile it seems. Zelda had her eyes closed, as tears fled from her shielded windows._

_"I realized the depths of my love for you through that suffering" She began to wipe away the tears, as her eyes opened again and she gained a malicious smile. "Now I shall make you suffer as well, and let you see just how much loving me means to you!" She gave off a malevolent laugh, then dug her right hand into the chest of the now conscious Cassandra and twisted around in it. This caused the greek to writhe in pain, screaming out while regurgitating blood. "I'm sorry, but this would have never happened if you hadn't fallen in love with him..."_

_"Cassy..." Link had a defeated look of sadness upon his face, shocked to the very core that Zelda would be so obsessive of him as to kill off anyone she deemed competition. "Please let her go!!!" He yelled, struggling to get free. Cassy then opened her pain filled eyes to take one last look at Link._

_"Link..."_

"That dream..." Link is caught off guard by his vision that he is pushed down by Raphael.

"Raphael...strip him of his weapon and bring him back. I've to deal with a thorn in my side." Ganondorf says to the cursed human.

The dark warlock walks within the rainbow gateway, pulling Cassandra with him. "Link..."

"No!" Link leaps at Ganondorf in rage, but is knocked back down by Raphael. "MOVE!!!"

"Not until you give me your weapon." He orders, pointing his rapier towards Link's throat.

The elf's eyes dart to the right, and spots Ganondorf's disappearance. Link grows enraged within and pounces on Raphael, knocking the sword out of his neck's way with his free hand. The Master Sword slams down on Raphael, but is blocked by his sword once more.

"Necro Cannon!" A stream of black flames is sent blazing towards Raphael and Link, who leap away from it.

The two swordsmen turn their heads to see Spawn running up to them. He quickly knees Raphael in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Spawn! Why the hell did you throw me!?!" Link yells in anger.

"You wanted a way up there, so I gave you one. At least the barrier's gone." Spawn says, pointing to a fleet of stairs with footsteps resonating.

Up from them come Xianghua, Kilik, and Maxi. The three friends spot Link and Spawn against the other weird transformed human. Raphael rises up from the ground rubbing the eye that received the knee blow, the wound healing within seconds.

"Who is this guy?"

"Everyone..." Link says, as he gathers the attention of his friends. "Go through that portal. You'll find Soul Edge in there."

"Wai, what about you? And where's Cassandra?" Xianghua asks the Hyrulean.

Raphael mounts a strike for Link, who blocks without haste. "Please, go after him. I'll take this guy down while you save Cassie!"

The others gasp in shock. The Asian woman then questions, "Who...who took Cassandra?"

"Ganondorf! GO SAVE HER!!" He yells, blocking another swipe at his body.

Almost on cue, Maxi grabs her and pulls her into the portal. "You heard the man; we'll take care of the damsel, but hurry up."

"What about-" Xianghua couldn't finish after being pulled through the doorway to the next world.

They are followed by Kilik and Spawn, who nods to him before leaving. Link nods back, and now he's alone. Link then throws a punch in the nobleman's face, bringing blood out from his nose.

"Like I promised, I'm gonna beat you up fast." Link states with proud confidence and courage.

Raphael's nose fixes back into place, as he looks at the other swordsman. "You know, if you had someone else fight me instead, you could have gone and saved your lovely madam Moselle."

"If I left one of my friends behind, that would go against my pride as a swordsman and their comrad. Besides," Link then points his Master Sword at him. "You have an air around you that reminds me of myself. What's your story."

Raphael frowns in response, making no attempt to show interest in his claim. It is almost as if he was trying to dodge it. "If you want to find out, you'll have to force me at sword point."

--

"You two will guard her." Ganondorf says to two heavily armored knights. "Darknut one and two you'll stand guard."

"Okay boss." The first one says, nodding while holding his zweinhander up.

The second Darknut sighs while laying on the side of jail bars. A rattling sound can be heard behind them. All three bad guys look inside the cell and see Cassandra sliding a bone across the bars.

"Hey!! You assholes do realize Link and the others will save me right?!" She claims angrily, dirt smothered upon her face and clothes.

"I'll be leaving. Gold will be coming down within seconds. When Link appears I will call you to bring her up." Ganondorf states, heading up the flight of stairs close by.

The Darknuts glare at Cassandra. "Now, as long as you're under our care I don't want to hear any crap out of your mouth. Your hero can't get past us anyway."

"You're wrong," Cassandra grits her teeth at the guards. "I will get out of here, and you won't leave here without an ass kicking."

"Stan, this girl is pissing me off! Can I kill her now!?" The first Darknut asks, holding his sword up to her head.

"No Silva. Mistress Ganondorf wants her to die in front of that guy...what's his name..." Stan begins to think over who Ganondorf wants Cassandra to die before, unable to get the name right.

"Link?"

"AH!! That's it! Link, right!"

"Link..." Cassandra begins to wonder, why did all this have to happen.

All she wanted was to destroy Soul Edge with the help of the Hyrulean she had met, with no desire whatsoever to fall in love. When she first met him she thought he was handsome, no lie, but she felt the guy was a bit selfish. After he rescued her in that forest and bought her new shoes she felt so much better around him, like a warm feeling that continued to grow. As time passed on she eventually accepted this as love, realizing she loved Link for who he was. It was only thanks to her sister's advice that she gained the courage to tell him.

And now, her and Link are being tried for death just for holding feelings for him. For so long Cassandra could only wonder how could something like this happen...

* * *

Dante: Sorry for the wait. Now enjoy the time it will take for the next chapter to appear.


	20. The Three Villains, Sort of

A Soul Calibur and Zelda story

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. That's something Nintendo and Namco have to deal with.

Dante:…no comment. Sorry. Oh yeah, this story has been moved to the Zelda and Soul Calibur crossover section. I think it fits perfectly, but then again I'm not the owner.

* * *

**_Chapter 20: The Swordsman, the Golem, and the Multi-Personality Witch_**

"Dammit all. Why did I have to do that?" Taki says as she comes back to the campsite they were at.

The ninja walks up by the stuff left by her nakama. She is obviously still mad about having to take Siegfried back to Athens. Rothion didn't hesitate to take care of him, though was still worried about his wife. "Guess I'll just have to track them."

"I can lead you to them." A familiar voice says to her from behind a tree. Taki turns to where the voice came from, and gasped.

"You!!"

--

Link and Raphael collide their blades together, neither faulting nor breaking against the other. The two stare into the other's eyes, tension and anger swelled up within them. The swordsmen push themselves back off each other, distancing himself from his opponent into another stare off.

Link seems to be sweating an awful lot more than he usually does. His opponent though shows no signs of tiredness. Is this guy giving him that much trouble?

"You seem tired. Are you really this weak?" Raphael taunts the tall elf. Link grits his teeth in anger as he glares at him.

"Shut up. I'm completely fine." 'He's much faster than I expected. I can't keep up...' Link's words and his thoughts do not match up at all.

It was all-true; ten minutes into the battle and Link had to use all his might to parry his speedy assaults. The Frenchman's weapon and sword style is much faster than the reckless hack and slash that Link is known for in his adventures. But that's how it has always been; if equal in strength, power beats defense, speed beats power, and defense beats speed.

Link holds his weapon with both hands, the sword before him to prepare for parrying any strike. Raphael laughs at him, recognizing his stance instantly. "Are you afraid of me? Preparing a defense so suddenly?"

Mr. Sorrel leaps at Link with plenty of speed, swinging his rapier at the green swordsman. 'No matter what defensive stance he has, if I can fake him into stopping one strike, then he'll be unable to block a second in time.'

As the man approaches him, Link's sword quickly swings up, about to parry a strike to his head. Raphael brings his sword back, and then mounts for a stab to his heart. But the elf swordsman is able to turn his blade to a point where the middle could block the weapon.

The elf swordsman pushes the rapier back, and then frees one hand to strike a punch into his foe's face. Link's assault is unsuccessful, as Raphael grabs the punch. The two hands touching one another feel a sudden shock pulsate through them, and in that instance they felt extreme pain.

The two quickly pull away, still feeling the static pain from before. "What the hell was that?"

"That's my line!" Link rubs the knuckles and fingers of his hand, both of them having dropped their swords from the sudden shock. Raphael was doing this action as well. 'I knew he was strange; this reminds me of the time Spawn touched the Master Sword.'

"This pain...I guess touching you is completely out of the question." The red eyed noble man looks down at his weapon still on the ground. Link's crystal blue eyes glare to his as well.

At the same time both of them grab the hilt and clash once more.

--

"Bloody Tower!!" Kilik jabs his staff into a Lizardman, knocking it into some of the others behind it.

The group has laid waste to the Lizardmen that tried to stall them. Xianghua is the first to say, "Can't believe how weak these things are. We could have easily taken them out earlier."

"Whatever. Let's go." Spawn says, as they prepare to storm the forest. As the group runs throughout the jungle of wherever they've gone to, the air starts to become rather hard to breath through for the normal humans.

"Guys, have you noticed how thick this air is?" Xianghua asks her comrades, pushing aside a leaf. "How can we find Cassandra anyway?"

"We're just following the road. It's best this way, since all paths lead somewhere." Kilik states, putting his own two cents of advice out there for once.

Within seconds they reach the end of the forest, and come before what seems to be a graveyard. White smoke litters the air, crows and ravens squawk and flutter about the area, and old structures of probably a building houses a giant plant.

As Maxi looks on inside those windows, he grits his teeth in true anger. Kilik glances at his best friend, taking great notice of the death look he has on his mug. In all his time of knowing him, Kilik has only seen him with that look twice; once when he got a major hangover and twice when he faced off against that golem. And since he hasn't drunken in a while, it could only mean one thing.

"Kilik, Spawn, Xianghua, this is where we part ways. I have business to take care of…" He says, walking straight toward the windows.

"Should we support him?" Xianghua goes on to follow him, but Kilik grabs hold of his arm.

"He can handle himself. He did before…we just have to trust him." The Bo master pulls her along with him, as she stares back at where Maxi is heading.

Spawn glares in the direction Maxi goes, then sighs realizing what he meant. He too joins the couple up ahead. He'll be all right; only a fool would go off to battle a fight they couldn't win against.

Maxi leaps through the glass, surprising the golem sized beast still inside. The beast is a human shaped being with a monstrous size, tan skin over its muscular physique, a throbbing organ pulsating on the outside of its chest and an executioner mask over its face. "What!"

He rapidly swings his nun chucks at the behemoth, slamming all parts of its upper half, then makes a final blow to its chin, having its head face up and making a hideous cracking sound. Maxi backs away from the stunned monster, wielding his weapon on both bars.

"Do you remember me, you freak? I don't know how you survived, but I'll make sure you stay dead!!" Maxi yells, gritting his teeth in anger. Just looking at this monster pisses him off more than anything else in his life, even that time he had to fight that guy.

Energy sparks around his entire body, as the monster returns his head back to normal. Wind blows away from it, kicking up dust the way most characters from Dragon ball Z do. The monster growls angrily as he stares down at Maxi. "Pretentious little bug…who do you think you are attacking me?"

"You really don't remember me? Do you not remember the way you killed all my comrades and left me suffering for so long?" The martial artist shouts at him, then leaps up at him. The monster swipes his left hand at him, knocking him back into a group of vines.

"You'll have to be way more specific; you maggots all look the same to me!!" It then bellows out with laughter. Maxi rises up onto his feet, ready once more to finish their collision.

--

Link and Raphael's duel sky rockets to catastrophic proportions. Within the few minutes they've been at it their battlefield has grown incredibly worn and half destroyed. There are crevices where their attacks were released, diamond spikes impaled into numerous parts of the walls and floor, and blood splattered upon the ground.

Both enemies glare at one another, breathing heavily and blood stained on various parts of their person. It is strange to point out though, that each one has been wounded in their clash, but all the scars have healed up overtime like they never happened. Of course Link doesn't care about this after having fought with cursed beings before, but Raphael could not figure why this is applying to Link. Despite these healing wounds neither of them have shown any signs of taking lead.

'I think I have a way past his stance.' Link seems to be coming up with a plan.

"Amazing…" Raphael breaks the silence between them, bringing Link out of his planning. "We've been at this for a few minutes, and yet we're still going. But even with your powers I'm still superior."

"What's that?" Link shouts.

"Your sword is indeed mightier than my own. There is no mistaking that, but Ganondorf has informed me of your past battles. All of your fights take a great deal of time, due to most of your opponents being monsters and not actual humans. You have no way of defeating me unless you can keep up with my speed!" Raphael then dashes at Link, his rapier held with both hands.

"Diamond Spear Wave!" Link swings his sword at Raphael, sending a bunch of diamond spears at him.

Raphael disappears in a flash, getting out of the way of the incoming diamonds. The French nobleman comes up before Link, lunging his sword at the elf. Link is forced to reel his sword back, blocking the stab with the guard of the weapon. Being unable to touch him Raphael quickly kicks his leg knocking him down one knee to the ground then stabs at him once more.

Link receives the sword's point to his abdomen, but luckily rolls out of the way to have nothing more but a grazing scar on the left side. Link quickly gets back up onto his feet. "Admit…Guess I have to put that plan into action."

"A plan eh?" Raphael looks down at Link from where he stands. "And what plan would this be?"

"Like I'm going to tell you…" Link growls back, getting onto both his feet.

"Ganondorf has once told me that you can draw out a fight long enough to come up with a plan foolproof enough to utterly destroy your foe. There's no way you could be fibbing if he is right…Let's see this plan!" Raphael lunges once more at Link, who prepares himself for the battle.

But instead of blocking, Link throws away the Master Sword. His hands reach out and grasp the blade of the rapier with both. The sword tip stops right before his forehead. Raphael is shown to be totally surprised. "What?!"

"You have two mains flaws that I've discovered over our 4 minute fight; the first one is demonstrated now." Link says, and then moves the rapier down out of his way. "Your fighting style focuses mainly on speed and outsmarting your opponent. But in order to master this you require a thin sword quick enough to cut with. That's why you stopped blocking my attacks."

"Ah, how observant. You also chose to stop it with your hands, knowing that since they're gloved up they won't have the risk of bleeding." Raphael didn't want to admit it, but Link's impressive thinking astounds him. He quickly found a way through his sword with little problem.

"There is another reason too why I chose to use my hands!!" Link quickly pulls the rapier out of his foe's hands, and jabs the hilt into Raphael's throat. "Without your sword you can't hope to defeat me because you can't even touch me without being suddenly stung for some odd reason."

Raphael coughs up blood from that forceful jab to his throat; he was already tired and injured from before, so it was only a matter of time before another strike did this to him. Raphael falls down to his right hand and knees, the left clutching his neck. Link tosses the rapier over to the bottom of the cathedral below, knowing that he wouldn't have to deal with it once it is out of Sorel's reach.

While the sword is knocked out of his way Raphael begins to contemplate why he can't touch Link, and suddenly realizes a hidden truth. 'I…see…'

"And that concludes our fight; without your sword you can't hurt me." Link confirms, walking over to his own weapon lying near the portal entrance. After he picks it up he sheaths it on his back. "Hopefully I can catch up in time…"

"No, not yet…" Sorel mutters, gripping his fingers tightly and grasping dirt. He glares back at Link who was just about ready to enter inside. His other hand snakes into his shirt and pulls out a knife. "I…I…I! I can't lose!!"

"What's that?" Link turns around to see what was wrong with him, and sees the swordsman leaping at him in a fit of rage. "Hey, what the-"

"I CANNOT FAIL HER!!" Raphael pounces on Link, pinning him to the ground. The knife in his left hand is aiming to pierce into his throat. The parts of his body touching Link seem to be burning on contact.

"What is wrong with you!? Weren't you suppose to take me alive?" Link shouts back.

"Where is it?" He whispers, though it is loud enough for Link to hear.

"What?"

"Where is Soul Calibur!?" He yells, causing Link to widen his eyes in shock. All this going on and Raphael is still ignoring the burns he's receiving from touching Link.

"I don't have Soul Calibur! I don't even know what it is or looks like!" Link shouts once more, trying his best to move him off.

"Don't try to exacerbate things!! I know you have it; why else would you be able to hurt me through touch alone!?"

"What? Wait, what does that mean?" Link first wants to know what exacerbate means, but gave that up when he began to realize he had a good point. In-fact, this isn't the first strange incident to happen to him. But by the time he begins to think this all over, Raphael adds more force to the knife on Link's throat.

"Give it to me now-Gaah!!" The nobleman is pulled back from Link by the help of a long red thing around his neck.

Link looks up at Raphael, and gets a clear vision of what's behind him: Taki. She has her left leg wrapped around his neck, as Rekki-maru is placed right under his chin. "That'll be quite enough of that."

"Who…are…you?" He growls through gasps. Taki slashes his neck, allowing blood to squirt out the fresh wound. She releases control of him to let him fall to the ground, coughing up blood.

Raphael quickly grabs hold of his neck, hoping his powers can heal it in time. Link rises up to his feet, brushing off the dirt on him. "Thanks Taki. You saved me."

"Yeah, I got back in time to catch up. A couple of minutes ago I came back to camp, and that's when I felt a large amount of dark energy. It led me straight here." She explains, making a good amount of sense to him.

Link nods in agreement. His attention returns to Raphael, whose neck somehow stopped bleeding. Taki flips Rekki-maru over, and walks over to him. "This will end it."

Link reaches his right hand out to her. "No wait, I have questions for him."

"What?"

"Raphael right?" Link calls out to him, looking down at the defeated swordsman. Sorel moves his head to face him. Link then asks him, "Why do you want Soul Calibur? While we're on the subject, why are you working for Soul Edge if you're looking for that weapon?"

"I…don't need to tell you my story…" Raphael states, his body shaking rapidly.

"I think I can piece this together Link." Taki interjects in between the two. "He must have been in a life threatening battle against Soul Edge, and gained innumerous wounds. Even from just looking at him I can see many scars on his body."

"You can?" This catches the rapier wielder off guard; how could this woman tell something just by looking at him?

"I've seen this case before; your wounds were tainted by Soul Edge's evil energy, and soon mutated your appearance. This only happened because you weren't brought to health by a monk or a healer to hold back or purify its aura." Taki continues, remembering the sight of someone in that same situation during a mission.

As she says this, Link ponders over something he remembers all of a sudden. 'So that's why Maxi didn't end up looking weird. But there's one thing wrong; Cervantes horribly wounded me that one time. Could the Triforce have purified it from me?'

Link quickly comes out of his thoughts to say, "So Raphael wanted the sword to set him free from the form he has now. That actually makes sense!"

"Don't say such crap!!" Raphael shouts, trying to get himself back on his feet. "I need that sword…for Amy?"

"Amy?" Both Taki and Link repeat in confusion. He wanted the sword for someone else?

"My daughter, was poisoned by the sword…by me…" Raphael confesses, finding himself finally spilling the story of his past.

Apparently Raphael use to be part of a noble family that serves the great country of France. But due to an incident he was unaware of his family was killed and he was hunted by the French Government. His escape was made possible due to the help of an innocent orphan named Amy. He adopted her and took her in, and together they planned their escape. Before they could leave though, they met Ganondorf, who promised to help him get revenge if he would help him get Soul Edge. At first he cooperated, but secretly planned to take it for himself. That didn't go so well when he met the owner Nightmare.

On one of his nights of rampage Nightmare took over Siegfried and tried to kill him, but thanks to Siegfried fighting himself the badly injured swordsman struck Soul Edge's eye and gave Siegfried some control over himself. Raphael fell ill due to his tainted wounds, luckily Amy found him and treated him. But since she didn't have a holy aura around her like a monk, a priest or Link Amy was poisoned by the energy releasing from his wounds. Her appearance morphed just like his. After beating himself up about this Raphael returned to Ganondorf knowing he would be the secret to finding the Sword of Destruction. If he continued to follow Soul Edge he would eventually find Soul Calibur, then he would save Amy from sharing his fate and he could return to his plans of revenge.

After hearing his background story Link and Taki nod in agreement and understanding. Link then says, "Huh. I guess with all you've suffered through revenge would be on your mind, but I don't think it's really worth it. In the end you've only hurt the one you cared about."

"I know…but I can't do anything about it! I made such a mistake, and I want to just correct it!!" Raphael cries out, though tears failed to come out.

Taki sighs in sadness at his predicament. "It must be so sad to be faced with such a problem. It's like when Sophitia…oh my god, I can't believe it!"

"What?" Link asks her.

"I left Sophitia by the entrance! I didn't want to bring her inside because there might have been trouble, but when I saw you needed help I completely forgot about her!" She explains, running to the stairs to retrieve the runaway woman.

"Sophitia? She's here? But I thought-"

"I found her at the campsite looking for something. Before she could tell me she passed out again. Wait here!!" – Taki

"I can't waste time anymore! Ganondorf kidnapped Cassandra! I'll meet you on the other side!!" Link says, running inside the portal at last.

Taki curses under her breath at his impatience. He couldn't wait 10 seconds? But if it involved Cassandra there's no way Link would not rush to her rescue. Taki dashes down the flight of stairs, about to take Sophitia and enter after Link.

As she stops before the sleeping beauty the ninja begins to think over something the swordsman said. "He said revenge isn't worth it if you hurt the ones you love. But isn't that the same for him?"

Back with Raphael he has become swollen on his resolve to find the sword. All this time spent and not even this elf that has remained the center point of interest of Ganondorf has a clue of where Soul Calibur is. But at this point what else could he do? For the moment he could only lie there, and try to think up a plan for what he can do now.

With Link our hero has exited the portal onto the other side, not wasting time to enjoy the scenery. He stares in amazement as he dashes for the castle, the most obvious place to go. At this moment he also begins to think over that fight. He won against him, but he had so much trouble at first. And the fact that his wounds were healing on his own is the main mystery. This is just one of the weird things that have happened to him after he got this necklace around him.

--

After leaving Maxi behind to do unfinished business, Spawn, Kilik and Xianghua have entered the castle. It looks like a chapel merged with the elements of a dark and filthy sewer free of anything reminiscing of clean. Parts of the castle have merged with the stones holding this building together. There are stairs that head up to the top and down to the basement, where Cassandra is being held, the other way. Xianghua then says, "So what now?"

"Well, let's guess. He could be at the top. Incase he isn't Spawn you go to the basement." Kilik states, grasping his Bo staff as he walks to the stairs.

Xianghua smiles and nods in agreement then joins him. Spawn has other plans. "Hold up, why should I go down there? What happens if you run into him?"

Kilik stops with Xianghua copying him. He then says, "We'll be going up against Soul Edge, a weapon we've battled before and defeated. It'll be no problem with me."

"Do you two really have the mindset and confidence to-" Before Al could finish a spinning blade comes towards Spawn and the couple. Spawn pushes them to the ground along with himself. He shouts, "Look out!!"

The ring sword whirls back around like a boomerang, until a hand in a purple glove grasped it. The weapon is stabbed into the ground, revealing a woman wrapped in a very revealing green outfit. Her hair is blue and tied to show two ponytails and a purple scar is visible going from her right eye to her left cheek. "So you're here to kill Master Ganondorf?"

"Another weirdo has appeared." Spawn says, his cape extending out. His right hand goes inside and pulls out a semi automatic gun. Rising up quickly he fires at the green and purple clothed woman, who leaps acrobatically in the air. She lands gracefully on a half-broken railing attached to the stairs, which didn't bend at all to her weight.

"This will be fun to do; killing intruders and seeing their blood go splish and splash on the ground!" She squeals, giving off a creepy laugh that freaked out even the Hell spawn.

'She even has a strange personality…' Spawn claims in his mind. Xianghua and Kilik rise up to their feet and take hold of their weapons. Spawn turns to them and says, "I can handle her. You two go find Cassandra."

"But I thought-"

"That sounds like a plan!" Xianghua grabs hold of Kilik's arm, and bolts to the stairs along with him. "There's no way he won't be up at the top. Bad guys love to show off."

"Whatever." And so Kilik and Xianghua run up the stairs to find and combat Ganondorf, as well as save Cassandra. But as they ran they were running right into Tira.

"Let's see what shade of blood you have!!" Tira grins as she awaits her prey to come, but is forced to jump down to his level when bullets came her way. With Tira out of their way the couple continue their trek.

"The only blood being spilt will be yours." Al states with confidence. Tira leaps into the air and swings at him.

--

Link continues running towards the castle, passing into the cemetery. "This place is really old…it needs to be completely remodeled."

Unfortunately Link is clueless to the battle going on not far from where he is. For at this moment Maxi is battling with Astaroth with all his might. The fighter is knocked hard into a tombstone, but quickly recovers. He glares angrily at the golem, his heart pounding hard with rage.

'It's no use…I'll have to use that technique, the same one as last time.'

* * *

Dante: And that's the end. Enjoy coming up with the numerous reviews this story will receive, hopefully.


	21. The Beauty Within The Darkness

**_A Love Forged By Blades and Souls_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. That's something Nintendo and Namco have to deal with.

Dante: Once again enjoy. This is the worse job I've ever done, even worse than that time I opened that gun shop.

* * *

_**Chapter 21: The Beautiful Woman Hiding Within The Darkness**_

Kilk and Xianghua continue running up the stairs of the warlock's castle. Their weapons held in battle ready position the couple could only keep running, but not too fast because they might get tired on the way. By the time they reach the door leading to the top they were totally out of breath.

"Okay, here we go." Kilik says, grabbing hold of the doorknob. Xianghua places her hand on top of his own. "Xianghua?"

"Kilik, we have to be careful. This is the man who now owns Soul Edge. We may not come out of this intact…we may even die…" The Asian woman says to her lover, looking deep into his eyes.

"Don't worry. We'll be okay. At the very least, we can hold out for the others to catch up." Kilik says to her. He then places a kiss onto her lips, one she returns full force. After 20 seconds of mouth to mouth, they part ways and face what's up ahead together.

Kilik opens the door, and the two lovers walk into the blinding light released. They look inside and gasp in shock at the sight beheld:

In a large room filled with little to no furniture, Ganondorf sits in front of an organ, the kind that's a piano, with his head drooping down in front of him and his arms resting on his legs. In front of him is the mutilated corpse of a purple-tinted skin woman. Her clothes were very revealing and purple and her hair white as a ghost. Clearly the words that come to mind at first glance are 'aged prostitute'.

"I captured the only other woman in his life he cares of more than Zelda, but instead of coming himself, he sends weaklings. I feel so ashamed." Ganondorf mumbles as he looks up at the two newcomers.

"You're going to regret those words when I get over-!" Xianghua is cut off when Kilik holds his hand out before her. "Kilik?"

"I have a question for you, well actually two now, before we begin fighting you." Kilik tells the dark warlock, who is now getting up from his chair. "First off, who is that woman?"

"Oh her?" Ganondorf kicks the body to the side, obviously not giving a damn about her. "She's nothing more than Cervantes' bastard child, Isabella Valentine. She wanted to find her father and pay him back all the years of suffering she's been through, and struck me in hopes to find him. I wasn't even going to fight back, until I discovered a piece of Soul Edge in her weapon. So I destroyed her weapon and added the shard to my collection."

"That pirate had a child?" Xianghua mumbles to herself. Kilik glares firmly at the evil warlock.

"She eventually struggled to try and kill me, even when I told her Cervantes died, so I took steps and silenced the woman." Ganondorf takes a couple of steps towards the two halfway through his sentence, forcing Kilik and Xianghua to back away in response. "It appears that I have answered your question. What is the other?"

"…" At this point Kilik prepares himself as he takes two steps towards Ganondorf. "Why do you want to complete Soul Edge? From what I can see you're already strong enough if you can wreck an entire world. If you complete that sword you might not be able to control it even."

Ganondorf pauses while staring at man, his eyes turning to a normal pair of blue eyes. "That was part of the deal…"

"The deal?" Xianghua asks, rather confused as Kilik at this moment.

"I made a deal with the Inferno." Suddenly, the warlock's figure dissolves away, like a fading hologram. The lovers stare in shock to see that Ganondorf is now a woman. Blond platinum hair, blue sapphire eyes, skin as white as snow, and pointy ears; these are the articles of 'Ganondorf' that weren't covered in black armor. Rising up the left side of her neck, her cheek and going inside her eye is a collection of burning red cracks.

The woman then holds her left hand forward, revealing a glowing triangle made up of three smaller ones on the back of it, as darkness forms around the palm. Out from the black fumes extends Soul Edge, already brimming with power. Interesting to note, on the back of her hand only two of the triangles were glowing while one isn't. "If I can return all the scattered shards together with the sword, then Inferno would let me keep my body and I can return to Link."

"Who…are you…" Kilik asks the woman now standing before them.

"No more questions; the ruse has ended. It's time to fulfill my end of the contract!" 'Ganondorf' rushes towards the two normal humans, as the sword becomes slightly thinner and double-edged.

"Here she comes!!" The two lovers prepare themselves for her assault.

"Explosion!!" She swings the sword in front of them, as an explosion bombs them. Kilik and Xianghua are knocked to the side from her attack.

"What was that?!" Xianghua asks as she tries to rise up.

--

"Wow." Link mutters as he walks through the forest. He didn't even notice the Lizardmen bodies on the ground. "This place…it reminds me of Hyrule…even the air feels like it. I feel I can use magic now…"

The tall elf comes before the castle cemetery. As he walks through it he could only sigh. "Geez! Why do spooky castles always have cemeteries?"

"Die!!" A voice shouts out, followed by the sound of crumbling structures. Link turns his head into that direction, and worried that it could be one of his friends he rushes over to where it came from.

In that same area Maxi continues to get thrown all around by the giant monster. He tries to rise up from a pile of rocks he crashed through with his nunchuks in hand. "This really isn't going as planned…"

"And now you die!!" Astaroth bellows, heaving his axe up above his head. He then brings it down on Maxi, who closes his eyes to await impact. After a while of waiting, he slowly opens his eyes, and sees Link blocking the axe with the Master Sword. His feet have been drilled into the ground by Astaroth's incredible weight, and yet the sword itself remains in one piece. "What?!"

"Link! About time you caught up!" Maxi shouts at him after finally pulling himself out of the rubble. "Where's that guy you fought?"

"I dealt with him. Also, Taki and Sophitia should be on their way here soon." Link pushes back the axe with all his strength, the Triforce on his left hand brimming with energy.

"She found her already?" Maxi grabs his weapon and leaps at Astaroth, slamming the sides of his body three times. The golem falls down to the ground. "You get going. I'll be fine myself."

"You really think so?" Link asks him in a worried tone.

"Of course. Who do you think I am?" He replies sternly.

"Good luck." Link then heads to the castle at top speed, hoping to make it there to meet up with his friends and stop Ganondorf before it was too late. Maxi turns his attention back to him. "Now, where were we?"

"Heh…do you really plan to continue killing yourself? Even if that maggot came back you two could never stop me!!" Astaroth growls at him while standing back up.

Maxi studies the body parts he hit throughout their battle. 'My hits are damaging this guy; there's no mistake about that. But even so I'm unable to bring him down. Is the power of Soul Edge keeping him alive?'

"Uuuraaaaahhh!!!" Astaroth storms after Maxi with its axe in hands. Maxi leaps over the beast's weapon and smacks it in the face with it. His strike knocks it to the ground and he lands safely.

'Even if I beat this guy up all day I would still be unable to keep him down unless I deliver a powerful strike.' He realizes in his mind. He then looks to the side while anime sparks appear beside him. 'It won't matter either way. I was going to use it anyway.'

Maxi grabs hold of both ends of his nunchakus and twists them. He then pulls them apart, revealing his weapon to hold more chains inside of it. Maxi rushes towards him with his weapon in hand, as Astaroth swings his axe down upon him. Maxi dodges the attack and stands on top of the weapon, swinging his nunchakus around the monster's neck and wrapping around its head. The other end of the nunchuk hangs on the back of the beast.

"No! Not this again!!" The golem growls in fear. It almost died the last time he did this, so a second one may kill it for good. It was pretty much the only thing it remembers from their encounter.

"Good bye; Secret technique!" Maxi lands on top of the beast's chest, using his weapon to keep him up. He then pulls down hard on his tool, as a sort of energy leaks out from the chains. He pulls as hard as he could even more on the weapon, and the golem's body is ripped apart in many places.

--

"Once more!" The female owner of Soul Edge rushes after the two warriors, her sword changing form to resemble a black and blue rapier. Her speed far surpasses theirs as Kilik can hardly keep track of her.

He lifts his staff up at her face, but the swordswoman dodges to the left quickly. Kilik makes another strike by shifting the bottom part of his bo upward to hit her in the chin. She disappears in accordance to the blow, sent high above them in the air. She doesn't seem hurt at all. Xianghua dashes towards Kilik. "Kilik, send me up!"

"Okay!" The bo master points a part of his staff to the ground as Xianghua steps on it. He then uses all his strength to send the Chinese woman soaring into the air.

She swings her sword at the now descending demonized woman, who easily blocks her strike with the light sword she now possesses. Xianghua grabs hold of the fake Ganondorf's wrist and kicks her in the stomach, but gets gripped by the other woman's free hand. As they descend she holds the Chinese woman before her, and has her take the full force of the crash.

"Xianghua!" Kilik rushes to the crash site which is covered in dust from the impact, but stops when he sees Xianghua coming out from the smog. He tosses away his bo to catch her, and sees blood leaking down from her skull. "Are you okay?"

"I can still fight. Don't worry." She says to him so he can focus on the battle. Xianghua then stands on her two feet to face their foe. "Come on out you bitch!"

"It doesn't matter what you do. You cannot stop my plans." She says to them as the dust goes away. With her Soul Edge in its first shape she hoists it over her shoulders and walks over to them. "Once I bring back all the pieces of Soul Edge I'll be set free from this life of mine, and then I can live the rest of my life with him."

"Him? Who are you?" Kilik asks her. He then takes a good look at her face, and sees that she has the same pointy ears as Link.

"I guess I might as well tell you before I disable you from fighting. After all even if you are in my way you are his friends." She begins as she stops a couple of meters before them. "Before I was killed that day when my world was ravaged, I went on through life as the former princess of Hyrule, Zelda."

Both of them gasp in shock when they hear her. "You're Zelda? Kilik, isn't that the name of the woman Link talks about?"

"Yeah. Zelda's the name of the woman he married, who died before he came to this world. That's what he told me." Kilik replies to her.

"Does that mean-?" Xianghua gasps when she realizes the situation.

"It's just as he said; I was murdered by Ganondorf just before I teleported Link towards your world. I felt the cold grasp of death awaiting my soul, fear swelled up in my heart, the dark energy polluting my soul from that weapon was burning up inside of me; all I could think about was being with Link…" She begins her story, looking at the ground in sadness. "But then I heard a voice; an eerie, luminous voice that appeared to me in the form of a yellow eye covered in flames, calling itself Inferno. It said to me…it would allow me to cheat death, and be with my loved one again, if I would return all the pieces of Soul Edge together."

"How can you make such a deal?" Kilik yells at her. Zelda glares at the man. "I can understand how it feels to have a loved one die, but-"

"You don't understand. And how could you? You never suffered the cold touch of death the way I had." She says to them before charging head on after them. She lifts her sword up and swings down at Kilik, who leaps away to dodge.

Good thing he did for she made another explosion. He was about to make another strike but her sword shrinks in width once more and she quickly makes several diagonal and vertical swings at him. He blocks each one with his staff, although each one was becoming harder to parry. Xianghua comes up behind Zelda for a sneak attack, but gets kicked in the stomach and knocked away.

"That's for kicking me earlier." Zelda says to her as Xianghua quickly gets back up.

"Take this!" Kilik moves her off of his weapon and strikes her in the leg. Xianghua and Kilik both attack her at once, knowing she wouldn't be able to block both their strikes with a single sword.

But unfortunately for them Soul Edge splits into two separate swords, each in her hands, and she uses them to stab at their guts. Instead of blood erupting the sword that strikes Kilik with her left arm freezes him on the point of impact, while the other sword sets Xianghua aflame.

Both of them roll onto the ground, Xianghua quickly putting out the flames and Kilik still half frozen. Xianghua holds up her nameless blade and rushes after Zelda. The wielder of Soul Edge swings her sword at the Chinese beauty, which dances out of the way of the attack. She swings her body sideways at Zelda, lifting her feet into the air so she could kick the Hyrulean in the face.

Zelda falls onto the ground from that attack. "Take this!"

"Don't underestimate me woman!!" Zelda hoists her sword up before her, holding her other hand on the flat end of the tip. Soul Edge transforms once again, and the pulsating eye blows a powerful wind at Xianghua. The wind sends her crashing into the ceiling, rocking every portion of her body.

"Xianghua!!" Kilik rushes to where she would eventually fall, but is ambushed by a speedy Zelda who slams her sword in front of his body, causing an explosion on impact. Kilik falls backwards onto the ground, blood leaking down the side of his head.

Xianghua collapses onto the ground hard, coughing up blood from the pain of it all. Zelda steps over to her chair by the organ, already finished with them. "And this is why you should have just given up."

"Kilik…" Xianghua says in a whispering voice. She could see the pain he was in from that explosion, although she had no right to speak after her crash.

"I shall refrain from fighting you two any longer. I don't want to kill the people who took care of the man I love." Zelda says to the two fighters. Her left hand's index finger touches the pulsing red marks on her neck and sighs in depression. "I don't want to be like this anymore…"

"Do you realize how much Link has suffered for you?" Kilik makes out through clenched teeth. He turns himself over with his hands balled into fists and glares at the former princess of Hyrule. "Link has spent all his time here searching for Soul Edge, because he believed it would lead him to the monster who killed his wife. What's he going to say when he sees the woman he loved so much appear before him, hoisting the blade that killed his friends and destroyed his world?!"

"He'll clearly understand once I explain it to him. Besides, he'll be more than happy to see me alive, and that's good enough." Zelda replies with a confident smirk on her face.

"No it's not!" Xianghua interjects as she tries to stand.

"What's that?" Zelda shifts her eyes to face the Chinese woman.

"Do you really think Link…is so selfish…that he won't care about all the horrible things you've continued in Nightmare, and Ganondorf's place?!" She yells at her.

Zelda flinches at those words. She grows an enraged expression upon her face as well. Apparently she didn't like being told off by that woman over such a tender topic. Zelda then glares at Xianghua and yells, "Do you really think I **want** to help that demon resurrect itself?! I only thought about how sad Link would feel; being alone in the world, having lost everything he cared about…I didn't want him to have those emotions clouding his heart!

"Besides," She pauses for a moment, and then looks at her hands. "I have faith in that he can destroy Soul Edge, which is why I sought after Soul Calibur as well."

"Soul Calibur?" Kilik repeats under his breath.

"My mother's treasured weapon…what do you want with it?" Xianghua asks her in a now foul voice.

Zelda raises her head up and looks down at her. She then sits down in her chair, staring at the ground. "Not much time left…"

--

Maxi can be seen lying down on top of a pile of stone and rubble. It was very uncomfortable, but he was too damn tired to care. He is looking up at the sky, ignoring the many pieces of golem tissue that he ripped apart a few minutes ago. "I really hate using that move. I can barely move now."

"Maxi!" A voice calls out to him. The former pirate looks to his right and sees Taki walking up to him carrying someone over her shoulders. She smiles and gives out a light sigh when she sees him, a small blush appearing on her face afterwards. "Good, you're okay."

"Of course. Where's Sophitia?" Maxi asks her.

Taki lifts the body she is carrying over onto the ground lightly, revealing it to be Sophitia. She carefully places her on the ground. "She was acting real weird when I saw her. It was like talking to a totally different person. She even called herself Clair."

"Yeah, it's just as Cassandra and Spawn told us. So what now? We head into the castle and beat some ass?" Maxi asks her at the end.

"Well like you said, you're too tired to move right?" Taki says to him, and then digs into her ninja pouch to pull out a scroll. She unravels it and bites her thumb, expelling blood so she could wipe it onto it. Upon receiving her blood smoke pops up and releases a medic kit. "I'll fix you up then we'll go find the others. Where's Link?"

"T-that's not really necessary, but thanks…" Maxi says in response to her offer to patch his wounds. She does so anyway. To answer the question about Link Maxi says, "If you're looking for that elf then go up the castle. He's probably rescuing Cassandra at the moment."

"Yeah, that does sound like him…" Taki says before wiping rubbing alcohol on Maxi's cheek.

It stings like shit. "Hey, ouch! Take it easy!"

"Quit your eternal bitching! This is the only way to make sure your wounds don't get infected!" Taki says to him.

"I'll get you for this…" He swears under his breath.

"Sure you will." Taki says, rubbing her left hand over top of his forehead. This time it seems to be out of affection. The pirate and the ninja gaze into the eyes of one another.

--

Link opens the doors of the castle, looking around to see a bunch of stuff broken down and ruined. "Was there a fight going on here?"

"IT'S STILL GOING ON!!" A voice shouts out. Link looks up and sees Tira leaping in the air. She seems to be twirling around to dodge tiny bullets shot after her.

Link looks to where they seem to be coming from, and sees Spawn with a gun aiming and shooting at her. "Spawn!"

"Link, get out of the way! You'll only hold me back!!" He growls while shooting. Link nods and heads towards the stairs.

"Where would Cassandra be? Let's see, dungeons are usually…at the bottom!" Link figures out by himself, dashing downward to meet with his female friend.

Tira watches Link go away. "Are you sure you don't need his help? Although it isn't our job to fight that guy."

"Your job?" Spawn questions as he looks at her. "And just what is your job?"

"Ganondorf-sama asked us to kill everyone except that sexy elf guy. He probably wants him dead for himself." Tira explains to the Hell spawn. She then places her right hand's index finger on her chin. "Although, I hope he doesn't kill that guy. He looks rather yummy."

'Yummy? Just how mental is this bitch?!' – Spawn

"I guess I better hurry up with killing you so I can watch him die!" Tira leaps into the air and descends down on Spawn.

Our anti-hero sort of protagonist grabs hold of his cape, and swipes it in front of him, forcing it to take the shape of an axe. With it he blocks the ring sword and pushes her back. His other arm fires more bullets at her, and three of them finally pierce her body. She collapses onto the ground from the bullets engraved inside her body.

--

Link glides down the steps as fast as he could, ready to save Cassandra before bad things could happen. Before long he comes before the dungeon he was expecting, and the prisons he would need to search. He dashes past the first few, taking quick glances in each before knowing she would not be inside.

"Where are you? Cassandra!" Link shouts, hoping he could find her with her own help.

"Link!" He hears down the halls of the dungeon. Link continues in that direction, running past empty cells until he reaches a certain one: hers. "Link! Thank goodness!"

"Cassandra! I'm so glad you're okay." Link says, coming close to the bars. She snakes her hand through them and hugs the elf swordsman. She then releases him to stare in his eyes.

"Link, where are the others? Are they in trouble?" Cassandra asks him, noticing he came alone.

"They're busy with their own fights. Step back and I'll cut you out." Link says, stepping back away from the bars to draw the Master Sword. As he does he doesn't seem to notice the giant shadows coming towards him from behind.

"Link, you have to be careful. There are-Look out!" She yells at the end of her sentence, pointing to the two towering armored giants behind her. Link quickly turns around to face them, but gets smacked into a wall with a giant silver-battering weapon. Cassandra almost cries to tears seeing him get hurt. "Link!!"

"That takes care of him!" Silva says, hoisting his weapon over his shoulder.

"Oi, Silva! You weren't supposed to kill him! That's Ganondorf's job!" Stan says to him. Silva could only shrug.

"Who cares as long as we kill him?" The silver Darknut replies, having a good response.

"That was a hell of a thing you did to me…" Link says in a grumpy and angry voice, as he rises up from the rubble. The only injuries on him are the bruise on his head that has blood dripping down past his eyebrow from the blow. The Darknuts gasp in shock while Cassandra sighs with relief. She was so glad he was okay. "Now you both get it back."

"Does he really think he can beat us at once? With that injury?" Stan says as he glares at Link.

"Hyper Dash!" Link makes a quick dash towards the two monsters, tackling the bronze Darknut with the point of his blade. The two enemies smash into a prison bar to break through them. Link then rolls out and swings his Master Sword sideways at Silva.

"Don't be so naïve!" Silva blocks with his giant weapon and make a vertical swipe at him. This would pummel Link to the ground, but luckily he blocks with his Master Sword. Surprisingly he does this with only one hand. Stan comes up from behind Link with a swing to his sides with his zweinhander.

Our green hero manages to lift the silver weapon off of him and slashes the dull blade that comes after him. His strike cuts into the weapon and knocks it out of the Darknuts hands. He then digs behind his back and pulls out, somehow, a very heavy hammer. He then swings at Stan's skull, knocking it to the ground. Blood leaks out from the thing's helmet.

"Stan!" Silva shouts, seeing his comrade Darknut dead on his face. He glares at Link in anger. "How dare you kill him!?"

"That was self-defense! You guys are trying to kill me!" Link replies, stepping back away from the silver one.

"Silence!!" He slams his mallet-like weapon down at Link, who jumps away in time. He places his hammer, shield and sword away and takes out a bow and arrow. As he aims light ignites at the tip, and fires it at the thing. As it passes through the air it becomes enshrouded by light and pierces through him. Silva's eyes turn white as it crashes down on both knees. It falls to the ground, defeated and dead.

Link puts away his bow, his breathing becoming more shallow and tired. "That Light arrow was much stronger than normal…it took too much mana than it was suppose to."

"Link, are you okay?" Cassandra calls out to him from behind the bars. Link moves towards her cell, and with the help of the Megaton Hammer he breaks the door down.

"I'll be fine. Did they hurt you?" He asks her. Cassie lunges onto him and hugs her loved one, her face buried in his chest. "Cassie?"

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you…" She confesses as tears come streaming from her eyes.

"Cassandra, I'm glad to see you again too, but let's walk it off. The others could use our help." Link says to her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Sure." Cassandra releases the man she loves and takes his hand, to walk up the stairs leading towards the top of the castle. But before they could reach them they come before another Darknut, this time a golden one.

"Who did all this?" He asks the humans in an ordering voice, looking at the dead bodies of his comrades.

"Who knows? Maybe it was myself." Link says in a joke like voice.

"Then you will have to die." He heaves up his double-edged, but flat, zweinhander and leaps into the air, descending towards Link.

Link pushes Cassandra out of the way and draws the Master Sword, and then rolls to the left to evade the attack. He then swings his sword down, releasing his sword pressure attack at the guy. The Darknut blocks with his weapon, which takes the full force of the attack and survives. Link charges at the Darknut and clashes his steel with his opponent's. "Link!"

"You have some skill, for a…you must be a Hylian." Guld says, noticing the long ears he possesses. He then pushes Link down the steps through brute force, being that much stronger than him. Cassandra curses herself for her uselessness, since her weapons were taken away.

"Taste diamonds!" His sword crystallizes before their eyes. Before he could swing it and release them though the Darknut hoists his shield up. The diamonds are released with a rough swing, but are unable to pierce through the golden shield. Link sheaths his sword and takes out a bow and arrow, charging it with fire magic to be used.

"Is this the best you got!?" The Darknut blocks the fire arrow, which fails to do its task in burning him or the shield. But as it goes through the air Link puts his bow away and draws his sword and shield. Link bashes his shield onto his opponent's, knocking him off balance a bit. He takes this advantage to leap high over Guld, and swing the Master Sword down and cut through the helmet.

Instead of splitting his head in two the attack knocks off the helmet, revealing his full head mask. Link lands behind him, his feet in slight damage from the landing. "You!" The Darknut swings his weapon around, slamming it in Link's left ribs. The sound of bones cracking could be heard once the weapon impacts his body.

"Link!" Cassandra yells, cringing at the sight of him getting hit so hard. Link crashes into a wall, breaking through it like a brick thrown into a glass window. He wobbles out from the hole he made, holding his sides in pain and spitting up blood. Cassandra cups her mouth with both hands, almost crying at the sight of him like that. 'If only I had my weapons, I could do something about this guy…'

She looks around for anything that could help her battle the Darknut alongside Link, but she could only see the giant things those other ones had. Shrugging without care she heads towards the silver one and grabs it, using all her strength to lift it up. Failing to pick it up Cassandra drags it with her after the monster.

"Any last words?" Guld questions Link before lifting his giant weapon up in the air. The Hylian takes up his shield and sword and glares at the Darknut. He used up too much of his magic on the arrows and the kenatsu attacks.

"I have one, for you." Cassandra says right as she swings the zweinhander at Guld, releasing it so the weapon would fly through the air and collide with the Darknuts head. Its helmet shatters to pieces upon impact and blood comes out his head. "Damn it, why won't you die?!"

"My head! MY HEAD!!" Guld shouts as he holds his head in pain.

"Here's my chance! Cosmic Rave!" Link swings his sword one last time and releases a powerful wave of sparkling energy, which engulfs Guld completely. The golden Darknut falls to the ground face forward, making a huge thud sound and sliding down the steps.

"Finally…now we have to deal with Ganondorf." Cassandra says as she moves closer to Link. The swordsman sheaths his weapon away and joins her as they climb the steps up to the top of them. She sadly stares at the many wounds on his body. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course! I'll be fine." He states, smiling back at her to take away her worries.

But before they could reach the top they come before a giant floating eyeball, which drops from the ceiling. The two-wait what?!

"What the hell is that?!" Cassandra shouts once she sees the creature.

"I think it's a demon, but something about it seems weird. That eye," Link notices the giant eye in the middle of its body. It reminds him of that evil sword Soul Edge. "There's something up with this thing…it reminds me, of Soul Edge…"

"Now that you mention it, there are some characteristics connecting them together." She says, squinting her eyes as she looks at it. Body parts that show similarities to the eye plop to the ground as well, as the monster swirls around in a spin. The parts assemble onto it as it does, until the creature has a human shape, sort of. "What is this weird thing?"

"I'll deal with it. It obviously wants us for some reason." Link says, taking out his sword to battle it. Cassandra sneaks up and steals his weapon, and faces the monster herself. "C-Cassandra! What are you doing?!"

"I'll fight it. You're too injured to do anything now. Save your energy for Ganondorf Link." She says, standing in front of him.

"But no one else has been able to use that sword. How will you?" – Link

"Don't take me for a fool. I'll do my very best!" She says, shooting a smile to her beloved.

* * *

Dante: And that ends this chapter. Next time we'll have Cassandra vs. Charade, and then Link meets Ganondorf, or should I say Zelda? God, this job sucks.


	22. The Legend of Zelda The Fall of Light

_**A Love Forged By Blades And Souls**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. That's something Nintendo and Namco have to deal with.

Dante: Today we bring to you another chapter for ALF. But before we can continue with the story, let's take a look back in time. Now that the secret's out, we can do a flashback.

Alpha: But first, a little back story; When Link was still a newborn his mother brought him to the Great Deku Tree to hide him away from the war going on in Hyrule at the moment. Because she and her husband, a member of the Royal Knights, believed in the son becoming one fated to defeat the king of darkness in hiding, she risked what was left of her life to save him. The tree took him in and protected him, as a member of the Kokori.

Link grew up, and gained a fairy to guide him. He was then told of what was happening with the world of Hyrule, and that he make be the key that will lock away the darkness plaguing the world. He ventured into the Great Deku Tree to save it from a disease in the form of a giant spider, but it gave out in the end. Link eventually meets with Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and she told him of Ganondorf and his plan to overthrow her father. Link would then go and find the three jewels that would open a path to the Sacred Realm, but Zelda and her mentor Impa had to flee in order to escape capture by Ganondorf.

He was given the Ocarina of Time just before they had left, and used it and the 3 jewels to enter the Sacred Realm and take hold of the Sword of Evil's Bane. But being a young child too little to hold the weapon, Link was put to sleep for 7 years. In that time Ganondorf invaded the Sacred Realm and stole the Triforce, but it didn't acknowledge him so it only gave him the Triforce of Power. Still, he was powerful enough to wreck all of Hyrule.

With the guidance of the six sages, and a member of the Shiekah tribe named Sheik, Link captures the 6 medallions that would give them power. He then returns to the Temple of Time where he meets Sheik, who turns out to be Zelda. After revealing herself she is captured by Ganondorf and brought to his castle. Link goes after her and treks his way up the castle, where he discovers he holds the Triforce of Courage and Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom. He battles Ganondorf to a death match, one where he barely makes it out alive victorious.

After escaping the castle with Zelda they team up to defeat the revived king of darkness, who has transformed into the demon king of darkness, Ganon. Together they defeat him and the six sages seal him away into the Sacred Realm, which would forever more be called the Evil Realm. Zelda then sends Link back in time, as the adult he is, to assist Zelda in sealing away the Ganondorf of their time in the same manner. That Link then fades away from existence, leaving the younger one his memories.

Afterwards Link and Zelda become good friends, despite what others may think of them, and they even develop romantic feelings for each other. Eventually a teenage Link discovers the moon is coming down towards Hyrule and would destroy it. After going on a perilous journey that lasted 3 days, he fought against the source of the moon's power, Majora's Mask, and splits it in two. One half would be placed in Death Mountain while the other would be in the Gerudo Desert.

A year later Link is kidnapped by an omnipotent force that drags him all the way from his dimension to another. There, he and 14 other fighters captured against their will are forced to fight against one another for the amusement of a talking glove hand. They rebelled and fought back, having defeated both the right hand and the left and returning to their own worlds.

Now, 19-year-old Link has continued to work alongside the Royal Knights in keeping the world safe. Princess Zelda, who has inherited the throne from her deceased father, approaches Link and offers him her hand in marriage. He glad fully accepted and the two have been wedded. Two months have passed since then, with no sign of a child coming in, and both Link and Zelda have another problem coming up. This one would prove to be the worse tragedy they have ever faced…

_**Chapter 22: The Legend of Zelda; The Fall of Light**_

* * *

Hyrule; it is a world that coexists with another world that is referred to as Earth. Both are perfectly fine, except some may see Hyrule as a little better. Unlike Earth, Hyrule seems to have a source of magic floating throughout the world. It would be uncommon to find even a single person without the ability to use magic.

The humanoid rulers of both worlds are similar in appearance, save for the long ears present on those of Hyrule, the Hylians or Hyruleans. It depends on you. Both worlds have their share of problems, including monsters and political affiliations, but both are better the way they are, as long as the Hero of Time protects Hyrule from the many fiends trying to take over.

Even to this day he has to work.

"Kill them! Twist them and kill them all," A wizard growls as he sends a troop of soldiers into battle. Most of them are golems and lizard men. The dark wizard controlling them floats above them with his staff held high in the air. The funny thing about this staff; there exists a large pulsating eye on it.

The royal knights of Hyrule as well as their fodder soldiers engage into battle. Their leader shouts, "Go! Push them back until he arrives!"

"Impudent fools! No one can defeat my power! A power that rivals even the Dark King," Laughs the wizard as he fires several lightning bolts into the sky, causing them to strike the Royal Knights. In the midst of the attack a man can be seen rushing through the group of knights on his side.

The man leaps out into the air, revealing himself to be Link. He swings the Master Sword down at the wizard, lopping off an arm. This attack causes them to land at a nearby mountain. Both the Hero of Time and the villainous wizard stand up and face against each other.

"Who do you think you are? Going up and trying to destroy our world for no damn reason," Link yells at him, holding his sword out at him.

"To lure you out. I am glad that I can face you, and kill you for what you have done. My master Ganondorf will be free," Shrieks the wizard as he aims his weapon at Link. Dark magic fires from the scepter.

Link leaps into the air and performs a spin attack, deflecting the attack right back at him. He then lands towards him and throws his sword at him. The wizard manages to block and repel the sword, as Link comes charging at him. His left fist is charged with the light powers of the Triforce. "Ganondorf will not revive, not in a thousand years!"

"Yes he will," Yells the wizard, shoving his staff at Link. He manages to spin to the right and avoid it, and then grabs hold of that same arm.

'If I can get rid of this guy, then the army will disappear.' – Link

Link lifts his left fist up and slams down, busting the staff in two. The wizard locks his eyes on his lance and gasps, backing away from Link. "What?"

Link then rears his left fist up, and prepares to slam it into the wizard's chest. The wicked wizard blocks with his only good hand. Unfortunately for him, Link's fist punches through that and slams into the wizard's chest, just like he wanted. Sparks fly from his chest, just like the kind one would see in Tokusatsu.

"That's impossible! How can you be so strong? How," Curses the wizard as he falls down to his knees. He holds his chest in pain.

"Like I said, he isn't coming back." Link tells him, picking up his weapon. He then stabs it into the wizard's chest, allowing the light magic to pollute his body. Afterwards he draws from his chest and walks off, leaving the wizard for death. As he does he could see the wizard's army is disappearing into the ground. "What a troublesome guy he was…"

Link looks down and notices a red shard is illuminating from the staff. He takes the staff apart and removes the shard. As he touches it he could feel a weird dark energy trying to consume him, but it ends the moment his Triforce flares. "What is this?"

Later…

After the battle was done, the people cheered like they always do. People must love heroes. Anyway, he went to visit the grand ruler of Hyrule, the beautiful princess Zelda. He and the other Royal Knights give their report of the battle.

"Thank you for your services. You're all dismissed. Link, may I speak with you in private?" Zelda says, prompting Link to stand up. He then walks towards her as they enter a separate room in the back.

A member of the Royal Knights lifts his head up after the princess allows them to leave. "Why is that guy so lucky? Just because he's the hero of time doesn't mean he can marry the princess!"

"Correction, queen now. And Zelda made it as so because she's the ruler. After all, no one else is higher up to call her on marrying a soldier." A female knight says, taking off her helmet to reveal a Gerudo. "I'm a little upset that they got married too. Why does she get to keep a piece of ass like that?"

"Huh?" – Everyone

In Zelda's personal room both her and Link stand before each other. "Link, you sense it too, right?"

Link reaches behind him to take out a small box. He then opens it, revealing the shard he found. Even though Link's Triforce has stopped its darkness from consuming him, Zelda could still feel its evil energy. "It's this thing. I found it inside that wizard's weapon. I think it's what controlled him."

"This shard, it is indeed evil. It isn't from this world either… Maybe from that world…" Link's right eyebrow lifts up in curiosity. He then closes the box and hands it to her.

"That world?" – Link

"There is another world someplace else connecting to ours. This shard is definitely from there," Explains Zelda, sighing depressed while holding the box. "You see; this world is similar to ours. The people there, humans just like us Hyruleans, only without the long ears, are a little weaker than us. Most if not all humans in that world are unable to use magic."

"What? But then how do they connect to the spirits around them?" – Link

"They don't. In short, it's not a pretty world to be in. But they still have potential to change their ways. After all, we Hyruleans came from that world and adapted to this." Zelda tells him, her eyes suddenly staring into the distance. She comes out of focus and looks at Link. "Now that I think about it though, I felt this feeling before."

"Before?" Link asks, tilting his head to the side in question.

"Here." Zelda places the shard on her mirror, watching as it glows brightly. The mirror releases dark energy that almost blows them away, but their Triforce marks shine and protect them. Link charges forward and cuts the shard out of the mirror, destroying it in the process.

A dark look appears on his face as he looks at the shard, picking it up with his free hand. He then says, "Zelda, you don't think…"

"Yes. It's the same power that awoke Majora's Mask. I would never have thought I'd sense that type of evil ever again…" Zelda says, remembering the time they had to deal with that evil heart mask that tried to call down the moon. It has been split into two halves and hidden in two separate parts of Hyrule, to make sure that wouldn't happen again. Strangely, there was also a fractured piece missing from the mask that disappeared during the aftermath, which was actually the reason the mask came back to life in the first place.

"Link, I can feel this is just the beginning. There are more shards, in that other world. We have to destroy them and the source before they destroy their world and ours." – Zelda

"Don't worry. I'll head out tonight at midnight. Where can I reach this world?" Link asks.

"I'll take you there later on. Let's just get some rest for the moment." Zelda then holds the box out to allow Link to place them inside. Zelda then places her hands on his shoulders, and lightly kisses him on the lips.

Later That Night…

At nighttime in Hyrule castle, things are rather quiet with no one around. Thankfully those annoying dead guys aren't around anymore. But something is out there at this time of night, and it isn't a mouse; it is the sorcerer that fought against Link earlier today.

He continues wandering through the streets, avoiding the watchful eyes of the knights doing guard duty. This sorcerer manages to sneak past them and reach a very special place: the Temple of Time.

The sorcerer enters the chapel-like building and crawls further in. Just by being inside he could feel a force of light damaging his body as he ventured further inside. The sorcerer steps up to the main stage, and sees the pedestal that use to hold the Master Sword.

"I'm finally here, the Temple of Time. A chapel created in ancient times by the sages, it is both the home to the Master Sword and the gateway to the Sacred Realm… No, it is the evil realm now. Twisted by Ganondorf's evil motives and his sealing in there by that accursed woman, the Sacred Realm can no longer be called that as long as he exists there."

Red energy releases from his body and takes the form of an apparition. It sends a bolt of lightning towards the pedestal, and summons a portal out of nowhere. The apparition and the sorcerer enter the portal, only to find a vague realm of darkness. Not long before searching do they find yellowish flames gathering. It takes the form of a head and glares down at them.

"You… You're that weird guy." The head says, looming down upon the sorcerer.

"Master Ganondorf! I'm so glad to see you have come back! Me and this specter have worked together to search you out and set you free!" He says, getting down on his knees and bowing to him like he was a god.

"So, you're Ganondorf, the king of evil that use to rule this world. I guess the Triforce of Power has allowed you to live in this realm without trouble. I can set you free." The flaming ghost says to him, as the evil king grins deviously. "All you need is a dark hearted body to replace your decayed body with."

"Have you provided one for me?" – Ganondorf

"Of course." The specter turns to the sorcerer and grabs him, tossing the old man towards the flaming head.

"WHAT? BUT I THOUGHT-

"I assume he's good enough for you." – Specter

Ganondorf absorbs the sorcerer's body, causing him to decade and turn into ash. The flaming head transforms into his true human form, the Evil King of Hyrule, and formerly Gerudo, Ganondorf. Though no one would hear it, ominous music plays in the background. He stretches his arms out and releases a yawn. "His body contains a shard that holds my power. As long as you have it in you, you won't revert to your horrid state."

"Man, it feels good to get out of that damn form! I feel as if a humungous weight has been lifted off my shoulders." Ganondorf says, rolling his head by the neck around to feel more relaxed. His eyes then focus on forward as he remembers something that happened to him. "I suppose I should thank you."

"Not at all. I only help those I find interesting. All you have to do for me is gather people's screams," Says the fire specter. It looks down at Ganondorf with its one eye.

"Good. There are only two screams I desire." – Ganondorf

Two Minutes Later By A Forest Near Hyrule…

Link and Zelda walk through the Kokori Forest, having hidden himself or herself from anyone finding out about them. Link had to get help from Saria to do so, but still it worked. Now that they are close to the lost woods, Link and Zelda face one another. Her beauty shines before him even in the darkness.

"Link, have you gotten everything you need?" Zelda asks him.

"Yup. I got the Master Sword and Hylian Shield, my bow and arrow quiver, the hammer I got from the Gorons, my boomerang and a set of bombs, claw shot from the Zora's, these golden gauntlets, and my special knight armor just in case. That should be enough." Link says, holding up a rather small bag that looks too tiny to be able to even hold a tome in.

"I see. How does all that stuff fit in there again?" – Zelda

"There's a magic portal inside of it that places the items in separate dimensions." He explains, showing her by pulling out the Megaton Hammer.

After placing it back in Link places the bag behind him, having it be covered up by his shield so no one can see it. "So all I have to do is play the Ocarina to get there?"

"Yes. That's all you need to do." Zelda then leans forward and hugs him, causing him to blush. She then says, "Good luck Link. This will be different from the time you had helped to defeat Ganondorf. You'll be the only one of your kind in that world."

"I know… But don't worry; it's not like everyone there is a monster." Link says to her, hugging his wife back. She then looks up at him, their blue eyes dazing into the other.

"Yeah. But that reminds me," Zelda backs away from Link and says, "When you're there, please try not to seduce any women."

"Hey, I don't seduce women! At least I don't think I do," Comments the Hero of Time, stroking his chin as he thinks about it. He does know a lot of women who have called him rugged.

I figured you'd be clueless to it. Anyway, off you go," Says Zelda as she smiles.

The two begin to lean towards one another, giving one final kiss before they would have to part.

That's when an explosion goes off at the castle. It was so loud everyone could hear it miles away. Link turns around to see that the castle is completely in flames. Close by the Temple of Time has been destroyed. It's easy for him to see because he has good eyesight.

"No. It can't be," A frantic Zelda speaks, fear coming through her lips. Link turns to her, about to ask what was wrong, when he senses the energy as well. "This power… It's him."

"Yeah. I'd recognize that foul magic energy anywhere… Ganondorf really is back." It is just as Link feared when he heard that sorcerer say it to him. He didn't think he would revive as long as he killed him. Did he survive somehow?

"Link, I also sense another familiar energy coming from him. It's the same as those shards." Zelda tells him, standing behind Link.

Link turns to Zelda and tells her, "We have to go."

"What?" – Zelda

"We need to get out of here, both of us. All Ganondorf wants is to steal the Triforce of Wisdom and Courage we both hold, and use it to turn this world into his own personal kingdom. With us in that other world we can find a bunch of guys strong enough to team up with, and defeat him once and for all." – Link

"But won't he follow us there? It would be best for us to split up. That way," Zelda gasps and suddenly pushes Link out of the way, just as a blade of dark light pierces her chest. Both their eyes widen in horror.

"Z-Zelda?" – Link

"That's a shame. I was hoping to kill the boy." Ganondorf says as he levitates down to where they are. He pulls his weapon back, resulting in it transforming back into a clear, purple crystal sword. "Oh well. I was going to anyway."

"Zelda!" Link runs to his wife and holds her. "Hang in there, Zelda! I'll get you some help! Zelda!"

"I'm sorry Link," Zelda begins, her mouth releasing blood as she tried to speak. "I didn't want things to be this way, but you are much more precious to me."

"Zelda! Don't worry! You can get through this! I can survive a blow like this, so can you!" – Link

"Link, you'll have to go on without me. For me…go…and destroy…those shards…" She tells him, her head leaning back near the end of her words.

"Zelda… Please, don't die on me!" Link tells her, hoping she can live on.

"Goodbye, my love." Her eyes soon lose that miraculous light Link notices in them, realizing she has fallen to death. Link lifts his index and middle right hand fingers and closes her eyelids. Link then turns his eyes towards Ganondorf, standing while glaring at him.

"What? You look like you got a problem…" Link says to Ganondorf.

"Why did you kill Zelda? Don't you need her alive to steal the Triforce of Wisdom?" He yells angrily at him.

"I've found a better power source that will make the Triforce seem like a power bar! Once I collect all the pieces to it, I will become a god that surpasses all dimensions! I don't need the Triforce of Courage or Wisdom anymore!" Ganondorf tells Link, hoisting his weapon up in the air. "Once I gain all the pieces of Soul Edge, not even the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, can stop me!"

"You bastard!" – Link

"But I do need something from you, the shard you stole from a minion of mine. Hand it over real quiet like!" – Ganondorf

"Who the hell do you think you are! What gives you the right to take the lives of others just for the hell of it!" Link yells at him, drawing his sword.

"I believe we've been through this before; it's because I am Ganondorf, the king of darkness! My powers are far greater than any other living being in this world and the next! No one will ever seal me away again!" Ganondorf bellows, his dark energy releasing from his voice. HE then points his sword at Link. "Now give me my shard!"

"I DON'T HAVE YOUR SHARD, SO FUCK YOU ANYWAY!" Link shouts back. Ganondorf jabs his sword forward, forcing Link to spin out of the way. He then lifts his sword and aims for Ganondorf's neck. The Gerudo blocks with his guarded arm and pushes the sword away. He then gathers darkness to that same fist and punches Link in the face.

This attack is on the same level of Falcon Punch as it sends Link flying through trees. He tries to pick himself up, holding the side of his head that got bruised. Darkness gathers around his left foot, and Ganondorf launches himself towards Link with his foot placed forward. Link rolls out of the way, avoiding the explosive impact.

"I need to use a light arrow." Link heads to a tree, and jumps off of it into the air. He prepares to set up an arrow attack, but in that instance Ganondorf disappears.

He reappears in mid air before Link, darkness around his free hand. He grabs him and mutters, "Gerudo Dragon," and slams Link to the ground. The ground breaks up from the attack, and Link bleeds from the inside. He rolls over and tries to breathe in properly.

"You can't defeat me anymore, Link. You aren't strong enough to stop me. All you need to do is die!" Ganondorf lifts his sword up and jumps back, releasing a shockwave of dark energy that consumes Link. He screams in pain as it plows him through the ground, sending him further into the forest. As he slides, the Ocarina of Time falls out of his possession.

Ganondorf laughs as he watches Link squirm in pain. The Hero of Time uses his Master Sword to stand himself back up, the Triforce already flaring. "I can't win… Even if I used that special armor I wouldn't stand a chance if he transformed into that pig form."

"What's wrong? Finished already?" Taunts the annoying king of evil. He then lifts his free hand up and summons a ball of light. He then throws it at Link.

Link swings using the Master Sword to send it back. Ganondorf swats it away once more, and then disappears behind it. He then kicks the ball and increases its speed, leaving Link unable to deflect in time. Link instead raises his shield to block it, and is blown away. Ganondorf fires another stream of darkness towards Link, who avoids it by rolling out of the way.

"Goodbye kid. I know I said I would get rid of your descendents, but instead I find this to be better; to send you the afterlife following the woman you love." Ganondorf prepares to release another attack on him.

Suddenly, beautiful music comes out and surrounds Link. He is lifted up into the air, to a portal forming above him. "What the?"

Both of them look further out and spot Zelda holding the Ocarina of Time. She is still bleeding, but has managed to save Link's life. As Link enters the portal, crying out to her, Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time towards him. It passes through along with him.

"So, you survived… Well, no longer," Ganondorf says to Zelda as he walks towards her. He doesn't notice her slightly pale skin and purple eyes. "I will kill you and hunt him down like the dog that he is."

"Ganondorf, I don't need you anymore. I have found a better host." Ganondorf lifts one of his eyebrows in shock, as Zelda releases dark energy from her body. "This woman's darkness is even greater. But the least you can do is give me back my shard."

"Inferno! Are you slithering out from our deal!" Ganondorf releases a stream of dark energy towards Zelda, but it cancels out before it could even reach her. Zelda summons a bow made of darkness and an arrow made of light, and fires it at Ganondorf.

He dodges the first and blocks the second one that follows up, but when a third pops up and strikes him he finds himself low on energy. It may be because Zelda hit the shard in his forehead, but Ganondorf has lost its power surely.

"How? Who are you!" Ganondorf growls as he glares up at her, trying to keep up. "Why did you set me free, only to turn on me so soon?"

"I need a vessel. A vessel within a vessel works just as good." Zelda speaks as she flashes in front of him. She then stabs her index and thumb into his forehead, stealing the shard inside of him. With it gone, Ganondorf's body goes completely limp. Without Soul Edge's influence, and the super-charged light arrow, Ganondorf has finally left the world of the living. With it now in her hands Zelda loses her weird coloring and purple eyes.

"I can't believe I just did that… He's finally gone, gone from our lives forever…" Zelda muses in her head, a sigh of relief coming from her lips. Suddenly she feels a little sick, almost as if she is dying. "I feel cold…"

"That's what's wrong; you need the influence of Soul Edge to keep you alive." A voice says in her head. She then looks around and sees something; like the squiggly lines in a person's peripheral vision, she sees a giant red eye. "That's where I come in."

"Look, I thank you for your help, but I have no intention of helping you. I can sense evil in you, the same evil that summoned that mask." – Zelda

"Well, you have no choice. Or, you could let that boy die. Who knows how many monsters there are in that other world after my power, and in a world where magic is too hard to use? He could die on his first day there without a little help behind the scenes." The eye says to her, already succeeding in putting thoughts into her head. Her heart begins to over cloud her better judgment. She couldn't let Link die no matter what happened. The eye then says, "Here is the deal; I will give you my power, and preserve your life, and in exchange you restore my weapon Soul Edge to its original strength."

"What? But that will only bring more pain and destruction! I won't do it!" – Zelda

"You aren't in a position to bargain here. I only merely wish to return to my blade and live in a secluded area. But the only way to make my wish come true is to gather all the missing shards back into the weapon." – Eye

"…All I have to do is gather the shards, right?" Asks Zelda, having given into his suggestion. For some reason she can't seem to argue with this thing. But her better judgment has already left her when her heart continues to remind her of Link.

Tomorrow…

"I'm just saying, he would be a much better fighter if he wasn't so stupid." Xianghua says to Kilik as they walk further through a forest.

"It shouldn't matter if someone's smarter. Intelligence only gets one so far; strength, will and instincts are also important," Replies Kilik.

"Not to mention he's also a…" Xianghua pauses when she sees someone lying down before her. It is Link, having passed out due to his losing battle against Ganondorf. Covered in his own blood and the wounds he gained, Xianghua couldn't help but feel horrible just look at him. "My god. What happened to him…"

"He must have been attacked. Let's help him." Kilik says, bending down to lift him up over his shoulder. He then carries Link towards their camp and begins to dress his wounds.

The following afternoon the two of them continue to look after the fallen hero, trying to preserve his life before it is too late.

Eventually Link opens his eyes, finally waking up. The first thing he realizes is that he's in the woods, and that his wounds have been cleaned and healed. His shield and sword, along with his other items inside the bag, rest beside a tree. He leans up and stands tall, stretching and getting his body back into shape. Of course, he immediately sits back down, his body sore as hell. That battle against Ganondorf really did a number on him.

As he sits back down, he realizes someone watching him from within the bushes. He shouts, "Who's there?"

"What did he say?" A female voice speaks on the other side of the bushes.

"I don't know. Maybe he's foreign." Two people come out from the village, both being Xianghua and Kilik. They both have a bunch of caught fishes in their hands. Kilik then asks, "Do you understand English? Chinese, maybe?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're saying." Link says in his native language. Of course, Hylian is a totally different world compared to Earth still, and even though Hyruleans use to come from Earth they have adapted into their very own language. Unfortunately it's nothing like the universal language the humans here have, so it's only fair that they would have no damn clue as to what he's saying.

But lucky for Link, Xianghua's good at improvising. She approaches Link, who puts his guard up. He has a sort of feeling inside of him that's telling him that they might be on his side. Regardless, he has been a little sloppy with his skills since there hasn't been much danger at his home, so he can't let his guard down near her.

"It's, okay. I, am, a friend. We, helped, cover, your, wounds." She says to him, making slow gestures to help him understand. He could get the gist of what she was saying, a little, believing she said she helped heal him while he was unconscious. Xianghua turns to Kilik and says, "Come on! This isn't exactly easy!"

"Okay." Kilik walks towards Link and Xianghua, and bends down just like she did. Repeating similar gestures, he tells Link, "I, am Kilik… This, is Xianghua."

"Kilik. Xianghua." Link says, repeating their names slowly to get it right.

"Very good," Says Xianghua, before she realizes that he has pointy ears. She gasps, and turns to Kilik, saying, "His ears! You don't think,"

"Yeah. He's definitely an elf. I can sense magic coming from his body. You think he came from another world?" – Kilik

'What are they saying?' – Link

And so, that begins Link's adventure inside this new world. After eating, Link's mind goes back to when he fought against Ganondorf, and his heart is engulfed with guilt when he realizes that Zelda had saved him at the last moment. She was already injured at that moment, so there's no way she could have resisted Ganondorf. He swallows it away and moves on, realizing crying won't help him, but he fails and does so anyone.

After Link was healed up Kilik and Xianghua take Link into town, hiding his ears with a robe, and shows him various things and teaching him their names. During the three months they've been together, Link starts to learn perfect English, gathered by their teachings and his own instincts. Eventually Link gains fluent English speaking, and tells Kilik and Xianghua about what happened to him; about Ganondorf, how Zelda died, and why he had shards of Soul Edge hidden away.

Link leaves them behind one night and travels on his own. Not knowing anything about this world he just followed his instincts and ended up on a pirate ship for Japan. There he spends the rest of his free time there until he captures two shards of Soul Edge and escapes to China.

Flashback…

Zelda lays facing up, her body dealt a fatal wound. She has tried to focus her magic into healing herself, but it doesn't seem to be working at all. The princess of Hyrule is going to die at this moment, and not even she can stop it.

As the cold sting of death rises up her body, she tries as hard as she could to pull up. 'I have to get up… Link won't survive at this rate. I have… I have to save him before it's too late!'

"I can help you with that." A voice speaks. Zelda raises her head up and turns to face the source of it. Appearing before her is an eye covered in flames. "If all you want is to live again, and to defeat the man who killed you, I can supply to you the power. But you have to become my host."

"What? Why would I do that?" – Zelda

"It's either that, you stay dead." The eye has a good point. She doesn't have the strength to save Link. The least she could do is use the eye's power to get him out of here. She loves Link, and despises the thought of thinking he would die. If this were the last thing she could do, she would save him.

"Okay, fine…" The eye enters inside of Zelda's body. Dark energy releases from her, as she becomes a living being once more. She rises up from the ground, muttering her husband's name many times.

End Flashback…

Link continues down the road with a sad look on his face. After escaping from that isolated island called Japan he moves through China in search of more shards. He couldn't find anymore than two there after skimming through the islands, and without any other clues to go on all he can do is search aimlessly. He also misses Xianghua and Kilik.

"I guess I can't really do this alone. Maybe I should have stayed with those guys," Says Link quietly as he thinks about the two friends he met here. Hopefully they would still be around in China.

Suddenly, an axe comes flying through the trees towards him. Link jumps up in the air to avoid it, and glares at the person who threw it at him; it was one of those annoying Berserkers he met in Japan. It grabs another axe and charges at Link.

"I'm getting really annoyed with you guys!" Link shouts, drawing the Master Sword. He leaps up into the air, performing a Jumping Attack, but he is blocked and has to strike his weapon instead. The beast pushes him back and causes him to roll along the ground. He stands back up as quickly as he could, and is shocked when he sees the Berserker has already reached him.

Link leaps back and avoids being carved in half. Next he takes out a bomb and lights it. The berserker rushes towards him at high speed, one none of the others had. Before Link could light it the monster reaches him and slams him in the face with the side of the axe, sending him flying. Link rolls along the ground while clutching the side of his face. "Damn it!"

The monster swings its axe at Link, who blocks this time using the Hylian Shield. He then activates a fire spell and fires it at the monster. Luckily he snuck the bomb on its body, so it will explode and blow it up. When the smoke clears, the Berserker emerges from it partially unharmed. "What?"

It slams its axe down to the ground, releasing a shockwave towards him. Link receives the attack and is blown away into the air. He lands with a thud to the ground, spitting up blood from the powerful attack. 'I need another way to deal with this thing… Oh well. Might as well do that.'

Link pulls himself up to one knee, and digs in his bag. He then touches his knight armor, and transforms. He is engulfed in a bright light that changes his appearance, as Link now resembles a truly powerful knight.

(TCM: For those of you wondering, it looks just like the Rupee armor in TP. Yeah I know, it probably shouldn't be hear, but it is.)

The Berserker charges at Link at full speed, about to carve into him like a Christmas turkey. Link lifts his arms and blocks using his Hylian Shield. He then slides underneath and swings vertically, slicing directly through the giant monster. Link's opponent splits in two, blood spewing from its innards.

The magic armor disappears from his body, and he falls to the ground tired. "I really shouldn't have done that. I won't be able to use it or magic anytime soon."

His eyes lift up as he senses that same evil energy is still present, and sees a metal shard has fallen out from inside of it. Link walks towards it and picks it up, placing the shard in the box with the others. He puts his sword and shield away and prepares to head back into town, covering his appearance with a brown cloak.

* * *

Dante: And that ends this chapter. What happens after that?

Alpha: After that battle Link enters the town he meets Cassandra in, and things take off from there at the beginning. But we won't be remixing things. Instead, we'll be continuing the story, with Cassandra fighting Charade, Link meeting Zelda, and Seigfried returns to the action.


	23. The Triforce's Second Reunion

**_A Love Forged By Blades and Souls_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. Namco and Nintendo are working that out.

Dante: Welcome back to ALF. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter of ALF.

Julia: I guess. It did explain a few things.

Dante: Let's begin this next chapter and move onto Water Princess.

**_Chapter 23: The Second Reunion of the Triforce_**

* * *

In the forest near town a man clad in torn clothing ventures through. His body houses wrappings and bandages that he gained not too long ago. His long, blond hair blows in the wind as he continues towards his goal, knowing full well of what would happen if he got involved with the fight he figured would commence. This is Siegfried Schtauffen, formerly Nightmare and the owner of Soul Edge.

"I'm almost there… I can sense Soul Edge's presence." Siegfried says as he continues towards his destination, the cathedral he told Link and the others about.

"You won't be able to do anything at your level." A voice says to him. Siegfried turns to a tree and sees a person covered in black and gold armor hiding behind a tree. That man's blue and silver cape blows in the wind as he turns around to face him. "Nothing can change what will happen anyway."

"Who are you?" – Siegfried

"The elf will be killed soon. With things going the way they are, he will die along with his friends." The knight says, walking towards the German swordsman. "And then, Soul Edge will ruin this world."

"Then I'll stop it! It's my fault Soul Edge got this far, so I have to keep it from continuing! I'll do anything to stop it!" He shouts, keeping himself standing as long as possible.

"You and the elf who saved you are vital to Soul Edge's destruction. The tainted Triforce of Power and Wisdom will increase the demon sword's power, and overpower the Blade of Evil's Bane. It will take Soul Calibur, the last piece, and that sword to defeat Soul Edge." The knight says to him. He then holds his right hand up, chanting a magic spell. "You are the only one who can help him."

"What?" Soon Siegfried's body begins to fade away, the effects of this knight's magic working already. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to send you to the castle that houses Soul Edge. They're going to need your help, Siegfried Schtauffen."

Inside The Castle…

Charade hops in battle position towards Cassandra, copying her battle style. She lunges forward with the Master Sword, prepares to stab it, but it blocks with the shield, and kicks her in the back of her left leg. Charade then spins to roundhouse kicks her, knocking the woman down the steps.

Link manages to catch her. "Not bad. I didn't think anyone here would be able to use the Master Sword, let alone pick it up."

"How do you fight with such a heavy weapon? It's as heavy as that damn mallet!" – Cassandra

"Don't worry. I think I have another weapon I picked up here you can use." Link sets her down and digs into his bag. He pulls out the Megaton Hammer, "Nope," a blue cane, "Uh uh," a quiver of arrows with only three arrows left, "I'm out already?" He finally comes before a sword with a hallowed inside. It resembles the weapon he traveled with to fight Majora's Mask. "Ah, here you go!"

"Well, it's not my sword and shield, but it'll do." Cassandra receives the blade from Link, and wields it single handedly against Charade. 'Those moves it did before were my moves… If I used a new style that might work…'

Cassandra charges at Charade. They then clash into a battle that could go either way. With Cassie's ability to adapt to her own style, she is able to predict what the pile of shards would do.

She swings down hard at Charade, but it blocks with its own sword and shield. She then lifts her left leg and brings it back, kicking the back of its left leg. Cassandra then spins around and kicks it down the steps, leaving them free to move forward. Link and Cassandra then head further up the steps, Charade picking itself up to follow after.

"You did great. Good job!" Link says to her, a smile present on his face.

"Thanks, Link." She replies, a small blush on her face.

Meanwhile…

Spawn stomps on top of Tira's head before he aims his gun in front of her left eye. "Now, who is this Ganondorf, and what does he plan to do with Soul Edge?"

"Master Ganondorf hasn't told anyone else about his true goals but me, and I have to keep it because he trusts me!" She tells Spawn, coughing up a bit of blood when he adds more pressure.

"Then I guess you'd better change loyalties before you die." – Spawn

"But Master Ganondorf and Master Inferno are all I have! They're the only ones who can satisfy my evil desires," Yells the partially scared girl. Neither of them notices the dark shadow roaming after them from behind.

"Tell me now!" Spawn prepares to shoot, cocking his gun over her eyes.

The shadow rises up from the ground, taking the form of a gruesome looking monster. Spawn moves at the last second, taking Tira with him, to avoid the claws of said monster. 'You'll feel some pain, but only a little.'

'That voice, in my head… It's fat ass isn't it?' Spawn turns around and spots his archenemy, the Violator, half-fused into the ground and glaring at him. He stands straight with Tira in his arms. She is speechless at the contact the Hellspawn is giving her. "What are you doing here? I told you, I would take some time before I stole Soul Edge."

'You don't actually believe me to think you're helping that elf boy? The one who wants to destroy it?' – Violator

Spawn huffs, and then says, "Of course not. He's just the best person to side with to get what I want."

'Malebolgia has sent me to give a change of plans; Inferno will bring back Soul Edge. You are to kill the boy instead and make sure it completes itself,' Thinks the monster towards Spawn. Spawn breathes in and then exhales, glaring at the Violator with his green eyes. 'You don't have a problem with that, do you?'

Spawn stares at the monster with cold emotionless eyes, the kind one would use if they didn't care about anything. He could lie to him and work alongside Violator to fight Link, and then betray him later on. After all, it won't matter to him what happens to the elf. But, instead he says, "Look here: fuck you, fuck your bladed cheeks, fuck your skinny ass pretzel body, fuck your master, fuck your master's mother, fuck your eyeballs, fuck your bitch ass clown face, fuck your eating disorder, and fuck you personally! I don't answer to someone who looks like a wolf's ass! Now get the fuck out of my face before I cut your head off, so I can destroy Soul Edge and move on with my life! And if I ever see you again I'll slap the shit out of you!"

Tira looks up at Spawn with amazement. He looks so cool when he said those words. The Violator isn't as impressed though, evident with all the angry expressions on his face. '…I'm going to shut that damn mouth of yours up once and for all!'

Spawn drops Tira and dashes towards him, his gun ready to blow him away. The Violator lunges its claws at him as he comes out from the floor. Spawn uses his cape to block the attack, and then jumps over him. The Violator swings backwards and knocks Spawn into the wall.

With this much distance Spawn lets the bullets fly. Soon the monster turns into nothing more than a green carcass mess. 'Those never take him out. I need to get in close for the kill.'

Claws come up from the ground and grabs hold of Spawn, dragging him down to the basement. Tira watches from above, crawling over to the hole to see what has happened. At that moment Link and Cassandra run up the stairs to head to the top.

"Did you hear something?" Link asks Cassandra, hearing the noise of Spawn being dragged down to the basement.

"Probably. But we have to head up to the top. I bet that's where Ganondorf and the others are," Replies the Athenian, running up the stairs ahead of him. Link follows after, ignoring Tira.

Spawn crashes to the basement floor, where the dungeon Cassandra was kept is. The Violator releases a beam of energy onto the fallen bodies of the darknuts, and not only do their wounds heal but they stand up and face Link. 'These resurrected nuts will be a good distraction.'

"Get the hell out of my mind!" Spawn aims his gun up at the silver nut and pulls the trigger, but realizes his gun has run out of ammo. 'Shit! I knew I should have brought an extra pack!'

Stan and Silva run towards Spawn, who drops his weapon. He then transforms his cape into a lance, and he impales Stan with it. This leaves him open to be struck by Silva, but he blocks his weapon with his left fist. Spawn grabs the silver nut by the neck and tosses him into a cell. At this moment Stan begins to move, and heaves Spawn into the air, crashing through the ceiling.

A Necro Cannon shoots out from above, incinerating the darknut once and for all. Spawn then lands over his remains. He glares at the one in front and the other behind. He summons chains to wrap around the golden nut, but it grabs hold of his chains and pulls the Hellspawn forward.

Silva dashes towards Spawn, drawing a secret blade to stab him with. The Hellspawn summons his axe and decapitates Silva, but that doesn't stop him. Silva jabs his blade into Spawn's chest, catching him off guard. Silva then pulls back and slashes upward, leaving a huge, bloody scar on his face. His ectoplasm/blood oozes out from the wound, as he repairs his mask.

'Damn it! Now I gotta stitch that again!' Spawn crashes into the wall as Guld still has his chains in his grip. "I've had enough of you! Necro Cannon!"

Spawn fires a blast at Silva, reducing him to ashes. With him gone he can focus his attention on the strongest one of Violator's necromancy. The iron bars come free from the cells, and begin to wrap around Spawn's arms, restraining him even more. The Violator makes his appearance, rising from the ground and lifting Spawn up. 'Prepare for a trip to hell again, crispy!'

"Master!" Tira's ring sword comes flying through the air, passing through the skinny monster's neck. It scrapes along the ground before it crashes into a wall, stuck into it.

Seconds pass and soon the demon's head comes off, dropping to the ground. Spawn breaks free from the bars and his deteriorating body, and glares up above. He sees Tira falling down beside him. She picks herself back up and says, "Tira is here to protect you, new master!"

"What?" – Spawn

'Ah, you son of a,' "Bitch!" The creature's head transforms into a clown head, the same one that has spoken to Zasalamel. Clown tries to keep himself up by using his tongue. "I can't believe… I'm losing to you… Again!"

"This all could have been avoided if you had just listened to me before." – Spawn

"You'll pay for this. I'll make sure of it! Guraaah!" The Violator soon turns to dust, and fades into Hell. Guld crashes to the ground, the spell on its body released with the clown's death.

Spawn sighs and walks towards the stairs. Tira follows behind him like a loyal dog. Realizing this he turns around and says, "Why are you following me?"

"I want to serve my new master." – Tira

"Look, you're beautiful and all, but I have no intention of letting you help me. I don't need a partner!" – Spawn

"Please let me stay with you! I believe you and I are able to get along well!" She pleads, getting down on her knees and hands and bowing.

Spawn sighs, and then says, "Fine. Tell me about Ganondorf then if you're so willing to betray him."

"Yes, master!" She stands up and walks to his side. "Ganondorf came before me when I was looking for a kindred spirit who would understand my pain. He told me of his plan to restore Soul Edge to its strongest form and began to gather together people to help with his task; me, Astaroth, Zasalamel, Cervantes, Raphael, Sanyo, and Aeon were more than willing to work for him, because he promised we could each have a chance to keep Soul Edge when it was done."

"When it was done? So he wasn't going to keep it… That's weird…" Spawn turns his attention up the stairs, where Ganondorf is sure to be.

Outside…

"Never in my life would I have ever thought to do something like this." Taki says, carrying Maxi and Sophitia further towards the castle. "Can you move yet?"

"Not yet. Sorry babe." Maxi replies. He actually could move, and despite the embarrassing feeling of being helped by someone else, being this close to Taki and another hot woman is a lucky step for him.

"Don't call me babe," Threatens the ninja. She did like being given such a cute name, but it was shameful for her to be called that.

Before she could reach the door that leads inside the castle, a figure appears before her. She instantly recognizes it as Siegfried, the German swordsman who used to be Soul Edge's host. He slowly moves his head to look Taki in the face, and begins to stand up. "It's you."

"What the? How did you get here? You were badly injured! There's no way you could have made it here without someone's help!" She exclaims, staring at the man. Sophitia twitches a bit, but it goes unnoticed by Taki.

"I did have help actually, but not now. I have to find the elf from before." Siegfried says to her. "I was told he won't be able to handle Soul Edge without my help."

"Who told you that?" – Maxi

"How can you help? You don't have a weapon, and your injuries are still…" Taki examines his body from where she stands, and can see that he has none of the wrappings or wounds on him. He even has on clean, not shredded clothes. "How's that possible?"

"I told you, explanations later. I have to get in there." Siegfried says once more. Sophitia lifts her head up, finally gaining everyone's attention. "Y-You!"

"Sophitia, so you're finally awake!" Maxi says to her. Taki drops the pirate and helps the Athenian mother to her feet. "Hey, watch what you're dropping!"

"Sophitia, are you okay? Speak to me!" Taki says to her, trying to reach the woman.

"You… You're the one I've been looking for." She says to Siegfried, reaching out to the warrior. Siegfried backs away a bit, but then she wraps her arms around Siegfried and rests her head on his left shoulder. Taki and Maxi gape their mouths at that action, while Siegfried blushes out of embarrassment. "You must be the true master of Soul Calibur, the one I've been looking for."

"Huh?" – Siegfried

"She's in that weird Claire phase of hers again." Taki remarks.

"Sophitia, what are you talking about? What happened to you since the last time we met?" Siegfried asks the blond woman, believing he has known her for such a long time.

"You two met before?" – Maxi

"I'm currently not this Sophitia person, but Soul Calibur's original owner. I wanted to meet with that person, and merge my soul into his to strengthen Soul Calibur. Soul Edge has to be destroyed." She says to Siegfried, still hugging him.

Siegfried grabs her and pulls her off, saying, "So, you're not Sophitia, but someone else entirely… I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I don't own Soul Calibur at the moment. Someone stole it from me along with a weakened Soul Edge."

"I see. But there's still a chance. If we merge we can take out the accursed weapon once and for all." Claire says to him, her body glowing a bit.

"But how can I be the chosen wielder? I'm just a castaway from Soul Edge." He replies, looking Claire in the eyes.

"It's okay. You don't have to question your worth. You want to redeem yourself right?" Her words reach Sieg and gather his attention. "This is your chance."

"Sophitia… Thank you." Siegfried smiles and nods his head on top of hers, and the fusion begins. Claire's soul is removed from Sophitia's and enters Siegfried's body, merging with his. Sophitia then goes limp and falls into his arms.

"So… What just happened?" – Maxi

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get inside. If what you say is true, then Link needs our help." Taki says, taking Sophitia out of Siegfried's arms.

"Right! That elf can't do anything without getting into trouble!" Maxi states, standing up and pounding his right fist in his left palm.

"Hey, I thought you couldn't stand!" – Taki

"Uh… Huh… Well, I guess I can now." – Maxi

Inside…

"Stay down!" Zelda swings down Soul Edge, releasing another explosion that blows away Xianghua and Kilik. "I don't want to kill you!"

"You should have thought of that before taking possession of that sword!" Xianghua shouts. She charges at the former princess with her sword, dancing away from her sword swings. Xianghua eventually reaches Zelda and stabs her sword into the woman's stomach portion of the armor. "Do you really believe Link will forgive you? You knew about the darkness Soul Edge would plague you with, and yet you went with it!"

"I have to fulfill my promise! I don't have much time before I succumb to him! Besides, I haven't done anything for him to hate me!" Zelda grabs Xianghua's weapon and pulls it out, glaring her now red eyes at the Chinese girl. She then tosses her at Kilik, who comes running towards them.

He catches her in his arms and glares at Zelda. "Then why did you capture Cassandra? Why did you try to kill us when Link was in that other world?"

"I agree with Xianghua. There seems to be little valid to your words." Instead of answering Kilik she releases another explosion with Soul Edge's power at them. She then glares at the couple with crazed eyes.

"Because he belongs to me! After becoming a monster and a suitable host to Inferno, after forsaking my role as the Princess of Hyrule, and owner of the Triforce of Wisdom, do you really think I'm going to let him move on?" Zelda towers over the fallen warriors, lifting Soul Edge up over her shoulder. "I've worked too hard to lose Link to some other woman! HE BELONGS TO ME, AND ONLY…"

She takes a glance at herself through the reflection of Xianghua's sword, and could see the mangled appearance she now sports. Zelda freezes up as she looks at her, and begins to think reasonably for once ever since she became this; these people, who have taken care of Link when he thought she was dead, were absolutely right. Nothing could justify those actions no matter what. Not only that, but Inferno has slowly twisted her mind into believing such a thing as Link being hers.

Having lost her resolve, Zelda drops Soul Edge to the ground. She then falls to her knees and hides her face into her hands, tears streaming through the tiny cracks between her fingers and face.

At that moment, Link and Cassandra reach that room and enter. The first thing Link sees is Xianghua and Kilik on the ground in pain, and rushes to their side. He leaps up and kicks Zelda away from them, though he didn't know it was the princess at the time. But when she falls backwards he gets a glimpse of his face, and his face becomes shocked.

"Z-Zelda?" – Link

"Link…" Zelda looks up and sees Link with Cassandra. Jealousy rises up in her heart when she sees the two together, but there is no place in her for such an emotion anymore. She doesn't deserve to be with him anymore.

Link turns to his friends Xianghua and Kilik, and sees the wounds on their body. In a slightly quiet, and shocked voice he says, "Kilik, Xianghua, what's going on… Why is Zelda, why is Zelda alive?"

"What's going on?" Cassandra asks their friends. Link's eyes glue to Zelda as he slowly approaches her.

"That's Link's wife Zelda. I believe she made a deal with Inferno when she died to restore Soul Edge. That way she could come back to life." Link's ears twitch when he hears Kilik's explanation. It's rather farfetched, but makes really good sense if one thinks about it.

Link gets down on his knees and looks at her, a bit of his body twitching. He places his hand on Zelda's left shoulder and asks her, "Is that true?"

"Of course it's true." Zelda says to Link in a different voice. This catches him off guard and makes him jump away. Dark energy releases from Zelda's body, and separates from her body. She reverts to her true appearance, the princess of Hyrule Zelda, while Ganondorf's body stands on its own. His eyes glow brightly like Soul Edge's. Ganondorf then says, "It's all true."

"Ganondorf? You survived?" Link shouts, glaring hatefully at the Gerudo King.

"I am Soul Edge. The one you know as Ganondorf is long gone." Inferno says, speaking in Ganondorf's body. Zelda continues to stand by his side; those markings still present on her face and neck. "I approached this woman in hopes to get her to work for me. It would have been a shame to let her die, one with wisdom blessed by the gods. The woman had knowledge of Hyrule and of Earth as well, so I tricked her into working on my side. Not to mention it would have been troublesome if she was against me.

"So I stayed in her body for the time being with the promise to resurrect her if she would gather the shards of my blade; and thanks to her, I now know where Cervantes' blade, as well as some of my shards are." Inferno says, glaring at Link. He then points to him, saying, "You possess the shards of Soul Edge in your bag, which is protected by magic to make sure no one can sense them. But this close up, I can pinpoint their location. And since she was so obedient in following my orders, I decided to grant her wish, by leaving a shard inside of her body."

"So, it was all a lie?" – Cassandra

"Of course it was a lie! I can only revive the dead with a shard. Once it's gone they succumb to death, and there's no way she will keep it, not when Soul Edge needs its powers restored, and all the missing shards it needs." Inferno tells her, infuriating her more. Zelda doesn't seem to mind though, although her expression tells a different story.

Cassandra turns to Zelda and shouts, "Zelda, are you okay with this? He doesn't care about you at all! How can you call yourself Link's beloved if you would do this to him?"

Zelda bites down on her lips a little upon hearing those words. Link's anger gets the better of him and he charges at Inferno with the Master Sword drawn. Inferno merely snaps his fingers, and someone comes out of nowhere and kicks him in the face.

Link crashes on the ground, rubbing his injured cheek as he looks at his attacker. This person is someone wrapped up bandages and masochistic armor. Thankfully his junk is covered, but so are his eyes and mouth. Link stands up and glares at him. "Who the hell are you?"

"Just a distraction." Another voice says. From behind Link a rapier is placed on his neck and his left arm is restrained. Link looks out from the corner of his eye and sees what looks to be Raphael Sorel. "Hello elf."

"Link!" – Cassandra and the others

"You? I thought-

"You thought what? You thought my little sob story was believable?" Raphael then laughs at Link. "As a hero, you should know that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."

"You… What about your daughter?" – Link

"I don't resent my new powers. Neither should she! Even though she was caught in Soul Edge's power and became close to me after dressing my wounds, I have no desire to help her. I only need to become stronger." – Raphael

"You really are unredeemable…" Link mutters, hanging his head in shame. He tests his physical strength by trying to pull out of his grip lightly, but even with Raphael's condition he doesn't seem to mind being hurt.

"Let go of him now!" Cassandra shouts, holding up the weapon Link gave her. She charges Raphael, who holds the blade up closer to Link's neck, drawing blood. She immediately stops, fearing he could die.

"Zasalamel," Says Inferno to the wall behind him. Out from it appears the mystery man Zasalamel, holding his scythe in one hand. He walks over to Link slowly and grabs hold of the necklace, pulling it down to rip it off. The burning Raphael is forced to feel finally ends. "Do it."

Zasalamel swings his scythe and knocks the Master Sword out of his hand. It flies across the room beside Inferno and Zelda, the latter of which walks to it to pick it up. Link shouts, "Zelda! What are you doing? You can't really be thinking of working with these loons, right?"

"Link, it is true that we've loved each other before, but now things have changed. I am Inferno's loyal servant, and nothing more! Even if you forgive me, no one else in the world will." Zelda says in a serious tone.

Link's heart sinks when he hears those words, and his head lowers. Zasalamel digs into his bag and steal the box with the shards inside.

"Very good, Zelda. That is your destiny; and this is theirs!" Inferno holds his right hand out and fires a blast of energy at Cassandra and the others. This knocks them over, injuring them even more.

Inferno laughs at their predicament, taking great pleasure in the pain the humans who struck him as Nightmare are feeling. "Serves you right…"

Without warning, a blade pierces into Inferno's back. It appears to have stopped, and it can no longer go through, no matter how much Zelda pushed the Master Sword in. Tears begin to come down her eyes as she did this.

Everyone in the room looks at the incident and realizes what has happened, Link especially. Inferno walks forward to get the blade out, and turns around to face Zelda. "You… You dare to back stab me, literally!"

"Of course! Even if I can never live with Link again, at least, at least I had my one strike against you! This is my revenge for all you've done to me, Inferno!" Inferno swings Soul Edge diagonally, slicing clean into Zelda's body. She falls backwards, her eyes becoming hollow and faint. Blood squirts from her wound as she hits the deck.

"ZELDA!" Link shouts, wanting to do his best to see to Zelda's wound. Cassandra's eyes widen in horror.

He then stomps on Zelda's sword arm, getting her to loosen her grip on the Master Sword. With Soul Edge in hand he stabs the tip into the Master Sword's yellow gem at the hilt of the weapon. The yellow light instantly turns red and a dark aura overshadows the sword, darkening its colors. With it like this he breaks off the tip, leaving the shard stuck inside to poison its powers.

"Zasalamel, what are you waiting for? Do it!" Inferno shouts at the scythe wielder.

Zasalamel holds his free hand up and exposes a shard of Soul Edge. He places the shard into Link's chest, which passes through like he was a ghost. Zasalamel withdraws his hand, the shard shown to be gone. Link's body begins to shake a little.

"Link?" As Cassandra calls out to him, Raphael releases the elf. He falls to the ground clutching the area the shard was left, his body still in unimaginable pain. He spits up blood. "Link!"

"What's going on? Soul Edge shards shouldn't work on me." Link says to himself.

"They don't, but thanks to that woman I've been able to enchant these two shards specifically to counter your Triforce and the Master Sword. Of course, if I had just placed the shard in you, you could just use the Master Sword to free yourself. So I had to make sure your sword's power source is sealed away." Inferno explains his plan to his enemies, and Link spits up more blood. Dark energy begins to consume his body. "I couldn't have the Hero of Time running around to stop me. This was the whole point of my plan, to make sure you die before you became a nuisance!"

"Link!" Cassandra shouts, running to his side.

"Stay back!" He shouts back. Eventually he rears his head back and cries, his body evaporating into dark matter.

"LINK!" She cries, running to where he was. Tears begin to pour from her eyes as she looks around for him.

"Now that that's over, I no longer have use for you fools. Goodbye." After Inferno's words, Raphael points his blade at Cassandra.

"I can still do this… Farore's Wind!" Zelda mutters, releasing her magic around the entire room. A fierce wind gathers around herself, Cassandra, Ivy, Kilik, and Xianghua. The four of them disappear with the wind, which leaves out the door.

"Damn it! After them! If they free the sword of its sealing and find the boy he may regain his powers!" Inferno shouts to his two henchmen. The two of them head down the steps to go after them.

Spawn and Tira make it to the top of the steps, where they first met, and feel the strong wind blowing past them. Tira gasps, recognizing the magic being used. 'This magic energy…' "It's going outside."

"It's them. Did they win already?" Spawn follows the blowing wind to outside of the castle.

The wind appears before Taki and her group, who were just about to enter the castle. It continues to swirl until Cassandra, Zelda, Xianghua, Ivy and Kilik are present. Taki walks towards them and asks, "What happened?"

"It was horrible… I never knew Soul Edge could be so evil." Xianghua says to Taki. Cassandra meanwhile is crying, still thinking about what happened to Link.

"Link… Link is… Link is dead!" She cries, more tears coming through her eyes.

"Link…" Taki begins to think about the elf, and her eyes widen in shock when she hears he has died.

"He is gone, and soon you will all be too." Raphael says as he lands down from the castle above. Zasalamel lands beside him.

"I knew I should have killed him. You're mine!" Taki charges at Raphael, drawing her clean blade and clashing with him.

"Funny; out of all of the elf's friends I believed you would be the calmest." Raphael says to her, engaging her into battle.

"I am. That's why I can fight properly!" – Taki

"Link… He's…" Cassandra continues to whine.

"He's not dead." Zelda whispers to Cassandra, bringing her out of her tears. The Athenian turns to the Hylian, who continues with, "Inferno couldn't kill Link. That shard could only turn him into something. He will appear again on Earth, but as something else."

"He… He's alive?" Cassandra crawls over to the princess. She raises her hands and clamps them over the woman's left hand. Her Triforce of Wisdom glows brightly. "Z-Zelda?"

"It's too late for me. I'll never see him again… When you see Link, you'll know it's him. So I give you a gift, something you'll need more than I deserve." Zelda says to her, a small tear falling down her cheek. The Triforce of Wisdom continues to glow, forming light around Cassandra. She leans forward and begins to whisper something in her ears.

"Time to take action." Zasalamel walks towards the group, as Raphael distracted the ninja. Siegfried and Maxi stand before them, prepared to fight him off. Zasalamel turns towards the pirate and says, "You're in the way. Move!"

He swings his scythe and blows him away, knocking him into the group. Siegfried takes hold of Xianghua's weapon and swings at him. Zasalamel knocks it away with his scythe and holds it up to Siegfried's neck. "Siegfried Schtauffen, former wielder of Soul Edge, just what do you intend to do by coming here?"

"I'm here to atone for my sins. The only way I can do that is by destroying the sword I supported no matter what!" – Siegfried

"What the hell can you do? If you don't want to die then go back to whatever home you may have!" Zasalamel taunts the man.

"No! I'm not going to give up! I will stop that sword, even if it kills me!" He shouts. Zasalamel lifts his scythe, but can't bring himself to swing down due to the bright light surrounding his free hand.

"This is…" The light flies out of his hands, which is revealed to be the necklace he stole from Link. Siegfried grabs the necklace in his right hand.

'This light!' – Xianghua

"You… So it's true!" Zasalamel swings his scythe at Siegfried, who holds the necklace out through instincts.

It shines brightly and blocks the scythe, breaking it like a twig. The necklace now appears to be a giant blade made of clear crystals that almost look like ice, and a shiny blue orb as the guard. A part of the guard is jagged, like a hook, with the orb inside. Bringing himself out of his amazement he swings back, blowing Zasalamel away. "This is…"

"Soul Calibur?" – Xianghua

"That really is Soul Calibur…" – Kilik

Zasalamel laughs as he stands back up, standing between Raphael and Taki. "Zasalamel, get out of my way!"

Zasalamel says, "I was right all along. It's wonderful when a plan goes so well."

"What are you talking about?" Taki questions the man.

Zasalamel points at Siegfried and says, "After I stole Soul Calibur and Soul Edge from that man I presented Soul Edge to Ganondorf, no, Zelda. I then realized there was a Soul Embrace keeping the two swords the way they were, weak and worthless. So I transformed Soul Calibur into a necklace and gave it to the elf, because I knew his magic energy would be able to restore the weapon to its full strength. Meanwhile I had to release the Soul Embrace keeping them in check to free Soul Edge. Afterwards it was all a matter of finding the suitable owner that could use it."

"Why? Who are you?" – Siegfried

Zasalamel chuckles and glances at Kilik and Cassandra. "All that's needed now is the power staff and the mirror crystal," He then turns to Taki, as releases a blast of energy at her.

"You seem to know more than you let on." Taki leaps over the attack and descends towards him. He blocks her blade with his scythe.

"Stay out of my fight Zasalamel." Raphael charges Taki and jabs his blade at her. She jumps away to avoid death, receiving a scar on her left cheek. "At this rate they'll escape. Summon the Stalfos."

As Zasalamel raises his scythe up into the air, he chants a special spell. Up from the ground rise skeletons wielding shields and swords. Some have armor on their upper torso, while the others are just bare. They approach the group, prepared to surround them.

"This isn't going well." Taki says as she looks back at her friends. Siegfried may be able to fight, but the others are still worn to face off against this army, Raphael and Zasalamel. Not to mention their escape routes have been compromised.

"Kill them!" – Raphael

Chains shoot out at Raphael, wrapping around his sword arm and hoisting him up in the air. Spawn appears behind Raphael with Tira beside him, his green eyes beading at the group. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"But what about you?" – Taki

"Don't give me that. I was never one of you. I have my own goals here, and they don't include you fools dying!" He tells them.

"Tira… Are you okay with betraying Inferno?" – Raphael

"Of course! Spawn is a much more fun master!" – Tira

"I'm not your master, damn it!" As Spawn told her off, the Stalfos go after Spawn and Tira.

Meanwhile Cassandra continues to speak with Zelda, who finally finishes whispering in her ears. Cassandra begins to cry again, saying, "Are you really going to do this?"

"It's okay. I'm leaving him in your care… Goodbye." A fierce wind releases from Zelda and wraps around the group, transporting them away just like before. 'Link, thank you for all the memories… Goodbye…'

Zasalamel leaps up and cuts Raphael free of the chains. "They're getting away! Go after them to the exit," Orders Zasalamel, forcing half of the army to go after the heroes.

"So, it has come to this… Watch carefully and learn, Hellspawn…" Raphael warns the Hellspawn, pointing his rapier at him. "You'll soon learn what it means to go against me."

"Beat it. I have to get my face sewn again." Spawn sends his chains forward towards Raphael, who slides through them to avoid getting caught. Tira stands before Spawn to fight with him.

In The Castle…

"It took longer than I expected, and some things didn't go as planned, but in the end I got what I wanted." Inferno says as he sits down by his piano. The wound Zelda gave him hasn't healed, and it doesn't look like it plans to anytime soon. "With the elf out of the way for the moment, I can continue with my plan to bathe this world, and his, in blood.

"Isn't that right, Charade?" Inferno turns to the mass of parts flying above him. It merges into the sword Soul Edge, and the weapon becomes even stronger. "There you go, back to where you belong.

"Dinolfos…" A lizard-like creature in armor walks towards Inferno, wielding a bladed axe. "Go find Aeon and find out what he's doing. And while you're at it, find the elf. He should be in human form and close by. When you see him, kill him."

It nods and roars, heading down the steps to accomplish its task. As it goes down the steps, an army of Lizardmen follows them.

Outside The Realm…

The group finally land outside of the cathedral, far away from the monsters after them. Siegfried and Taki are the first to stand up, being less injured than the rest. She asks, "What happened?"

"I think someone teleported us here." Siegfried says, giving his own assumption.

"Zelda? Zelda! Wake up!" Cassandra shouts, trying to awaken the fallen woman. But no matter how hard she shouted or pushed her, Zelda wouldn't react. She even opens her eyes, but sees that they have widened pupils. Taki examines her, and then looks away.

"She's gone. Whoever she is, there's no way to save her now." – Taki

"Who was she?" – Siegfried

"Zelda, Link's wife." Cassandra tells them, catching the two, and Maxi, by surprise.

Knowing Inferno would still be after them, Siegfried, Taki and Cassandra carry Zelda's body, Xianghua, Sophitia and Kilik to Sophitia's home. Along the way Cassandra explains to Taki and Siegfried about what happened, and Taki tells her what happened with her sister. Ivy was left behind.

By tomorrow evening they finally reach the home, where they rest and heal their wounds. Sophitia wakes up soon, her mind drawing a blank on what happened during her Claire episode. Cassandra tells her of what happened, which leaves Siegfried and Sophitia some time to catch up.

Soon everyone falls asleep, finally ready to put a long travel to rest. Zelda is placed in Cassandra's room, where she, Taki and Xianghua are sleeping. It was rather hard for her to sleep, in a room next to a dead body. They would bury her tomorrow morning, but for now she was to be placed in a safe room.

That night Cassandra has a special dream.

"_Link? Are you in here? Link?" Cassandra calls out, looking for her beloved fiancé. She seems to be in a forest in the dead of the night. She couldn't see a lip of what was in front of her, leading to the girl occasionally stubbing her toes on something._

_Suddenly she hears a howl. Her eyes turn to her left, right where she sees the moon. It has a sickly pale yellow-black look, like the morning dawn. Standing underneath the moon is a human-shaped figure that has long ears. Cassandra smiles and rushes towards the figure, knowing whom exactly looks just like that._

"_Link!" She cries, stopping a few feet in front of him. She could still only see darkness in place of his colors. Link opens his eyes, revealing the blood red color. He then lunges forward at her, exposing his sharp teeth._

"NO!" She screams, waking up in the middle of the night. She holds her right hand over her heart, slowly calming her heart.

"Cassandra? Is something wrong?" Taki asks, having woken up thanks to her yelling.

"Hey, what's with all the noise…" Xianghua says, rubbing her eyes.

Cassandra turns to the others, and says, "It's nothing. Just a bad dream."

"Oh. Don't constantly wake us up all the time." Xianghua complains, wanting to get her beauty sleep.

As she sleeps, Taki sighs and says, "Cassandra, I know this may be hard for you, but please try to bear with us. We'll find Link, I promise."

"…Yeah… Thanks." She says, giving a smile to her.

Taki falls back to sleep, leaving Cassandra alone in the room. She glances at the dead, covered body of Zelda and feels her heart sinking. A bit of tears begin to flow through her eyes as she says, "I hate how this all had to happen. Why did she entrust this to me?"

Cassandra falls back to rest, trying to sleep so she could get this day over with. But before she could, the sound of a howl goes off in the distance. It causes Cassie to open her eyes and sit up. She moves to the window and glances outside, looking for the source of the noise.

'It sounds just like the one in my dream… But why does it sound like a wolf?' – Cassandra

The howl goes off again.

* * *

Dante: That ends this chapter. It's rather good.

Julia: Transcending history, and the world; a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold. Heroes of light will start their true battle against darkness. Power will go after courage, and is saved by wind.

Next time on A Love Forged – The Soul Who Seeks Resentment and The One Man Army


	24. The Soul of Resentment and One Man Army

_**A Love Forged By Blades And Souls**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or Zelda. Let's let Namco and Nintendo work that out.

Julia: We reach the sixth arc of A Love Forged. Out of all of them, The Agent of Hyrule Arc, The China Arc, The Athens Arc, The Under World Arc and The Castle Arc, this may be the longest.

Dante: So? Let's get going with the 24th chapter!

_**Chapter 24: The Soul Who Seeks Resentment and The One Man Army**_

* * *

Deep within a forest, a man can be seen walking through it. He has the armor of the samurai on him, although it seems to have been destroyed at all but his left side, and a katana strapped to his waist. His hair is brown and wrapped up in a way similar to Taki's, except it looks much bushier. He even looks as if he's from the same country as Taki.

"It should be close. I can feel it." He says as he continues down the road within the forest. He holds up a bottle that holds a shard of Soul Edge. 'Just a few more feet. I bet it belongs to Nightmare.'

He walks forward to what he believes to be the end of the forest, knowing his journey would lead him towards there. But before he could go, he hears the barking of a nearby animal. Whatever it was, it runs past the samurai and keeps going. 'Stupid wolf. Watch where you're going!'

A giant lizard thing covered in partial armor runs past the samurai, followed by a horde of other, smaller lizardmen. They seem to be chasing after the animal too. 'What the hell is going on?'

Later…

"Stop following me!" A Korean with red hair says to someone else. He seems to be walking further away from that person.

"No! You're coming back home, and that's final Yun-Seong!" A woman says to him. She is a lovely woman of age 23 with long brown hair and a red Chinese outfit.

"Beat it Seong Mina! I'm going to find Soul Edge and save our country!" He replies to her, moving faster to get away from the woman. "Talim is also missing, and I won't stop until I make sure she's okay."

"Then slow down!" – Mina

Just then, a wolf comes leaping through some bushes, stopping in front of them. It has dark gray and white fur on its body with the clearest blue eyes one could see. There's also a weird symbol on his head. It growls as it backs away from them, seeing them as potential threats.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Yun-Seong says as he steps away from it. The wolf perks its ears up and turns around, before it leaps away from them. The lizards from before leap out and go after the wolf. "Matter of fact, where did they come from?"

The wolf, realizing it's been cornered, leaps at the leader. It blocks with its shield and swings at the mammal, leaving a cut on its body. The Dinolfos lifts its axe and swings down at the wolf, but Seung Mina lifts her weapon, a zanbatou, and blocks. "What do you think you're doing, ganging up on a weaker creature like that?"

"Seung Mina!" Yun-Seong shouts, just as a lizardman comes up from behind her. He kicks it in the face and knocks it away. He then draws his blade and says, "Ha! They don't call me Lightning Legs for nothing!"

"No one calls you that!" Mina lifts her weapon and pushes the monster away. She then jabs forward at it, but the Dinolfos jumps away. It then gets into battle position, hopping up and down. "This won't be so easy."

Mina and the Dinolfos compete in battle. She sends a few jabs at it, but it keeps blocking with its shield. It then swings its tail at her, forcing the girl to hop over it. When it prepares to strike with its tail again Mina stabs her blade into the ground, using it to vault over the creature. While midair she swings down to strike from behind, but the armored plating on its head seems to have gotten in the way. While this went on, Yun-Seong struggles against the rest of the army. Thankfully the wolf helps out.

When Yun-Seong cuts down one, it lunges at him and grabs hold of the boy. "Hey, get off!"

Two more come from behind to cut him down, but the wolf tackles them. It bites into the back of one of their heads, ripping out brains. The second one comes after it from behind, but Yun-Seong manages to break free from his own problem and kick it away. "Thanks for earlier."

Mina falls to the ground, gripping the side of her left arm in pain, blood flowing down it. The uninjured Dinolfos charges Mina, raising a bloodied axe up in the air. 'It's too strong. We can't beat it.'

"Hold it right there!" Someone shouts out. Suddenly the samurai dashes out from the trees into the clearing, drawing his katana to cut the Dinolfos.

Being caught off guard it couldn't block in time, and gets knocked to the ground. Not even a second could pass before it recovers. The samurai glares at the lizard, a look of enjoyment and sadism on his face as he smiles. "You'll be my first prey of the week."

The Dinolfos charges at the samurai. He blocks using his katana and kicks him in the stomach, its only un-armored spot. The samurai then sheathes his sword and swings, releasing a blast of lightning. It sends the Dinolfos flying. Seung Mina takes this as a chance to run up underneath it and jab her weapon upward. The Dinolfos falls and lands on her bladed weapon, since it pierced the stomach part.

"Hey. What the hell are you doing? That was my prey!" The samurai says to her, as she moves her weapon to the side to allow the creature to fall off.

"That thing was attacking us. Thanks for saving us, but we had to kill it." As she speaks the Dinolfos rises up to attack her.

"Seung Mina!" Yun-Seong's words grasp her attention, and she turns around to see it swing its axe down at her. The samurai prepares to attack, but he's beaten to the punch when the wolf leaps on its head and claws at the Dinolfos' eyes.

"Isn't that the same wolf from before?" The samurai dashes towards the Dinolfos, charging his weapon with energy. He then swings and cuts clean through the lizard's armor and body. It falls to the ground, dead from the samurai's strike.

The wolf howls after leaping off of the body. The samurai sheathes his sword and glares at the wolf. It growls and gets into an attack position. "All this fuss over a wolf? What's so special about it?"

"Those things must have had a reason to go after it." Seung Mina says to her friend. She approaches the wolf, placing her weapon behind her. She reaches out to it in hopes to get it to trust her. The wolf calms down and looks into Seung Mina's eyes. The woman narrows her eyes a little and looks into the wolf's eyes, feeling warmth come over her. "There's something about this wolf that seems, human."

"Human?" Yun-Seong asks, looking down at the wolf. The samurai digs into his robes and grabs the bottle with his shard in it. It glows as he holds it closer to the wolf. Yun-Seong, the wolf, and Seung Mina notice the energy and are surprised to see the shard. "You have Soul Edge?"

"This thing seems to react whenever it's near the wolf. Maybe there's a shard in it." The samurai says, pocketing the shard he has.

"Then if we remove it somehow he can return to normal." Seung Mina realizes.

The wolf dashes into the forest. Seung Mina calls out, "Wait, don't go!"

It stops and gestures its head forward. It seems to want them to follow. "It wants us to follow it."

The wolf grins and continues forward, leading them to follow. Yun-Seong sighs and scratches his head. "Yeah, you go on without me. I still need to find Talim."

"Oh, I see," Begins the woman. "You don't want to get Soul Edge, do you?"

"What?" Now Yun-Seong turns his attention to her.

"I figured you would want the shard inside the wolf. But I guess you really don't want to save our country," The woman walks away and leaves him, following the wolf. '3, 2, 1,'

"Wait up!" Yun-Seong sighs and walks after her. 'I hate it when she's right.'

"Thanks samurai-guy!" – Seung Mina

'Those two were Korean, huh? Oh well. Not going to ruin my day. I have to find Soul Edge, not save some poor bastard from a curse.' The samurai holds up his shard and sees that it is pointing in another direction. It seems to be going in the same path as the wolf. 'So I really have to follow them…'

And so he follows after the Korean pair, and the wolf, knowing Soul Edge would most likely be along the path they would be taking. There's a chance there's a shard inside the wolf, or maybe the power of Soul Edge did that and it knows where a piece could be. Either way, it knows something and those lizards were trying to get rid of it.

Elsewhere…

Cassandra opens her eyes, which are puffy and red. During the course of the night she was crying, due to another dream she had of Link. Even though she knows he is still alive, through Zelda's words, she still can't bring herself to overcome this sadness. Cassandra rises from her sleeping bed and approaches Zelda's body, which strangely has disappeared.

Realizing this she runs towards the body, and after removing the sheet she could see it has turned to dust. "Zelda… She's really gone."

"Who's really gone?" Taki says as she wakes up. She then notices the dust around Zelda's body. "Where's the body?"

Cassandra grabs some of her dust and lifts it up, letting it pour through her fingers. "This is all that's left."

"She turned to dust?" – Taki

"Yeah. It's the same as when Cervantes died." Cassandra says, remembering the time the pirate attacked them. "I'll put it inside a box. I can show her to Link later."

"I see." – Taki

"Huh? What's up? Is it morning?" Xianghua finally wakes up, feeling a little weary.

Cassandra begins the day by placing the ashes of Zelda's remains inside of a medium sized box, like one you put on a dresser, and leaves it in sight. She then continues by getting dressed, and fixing her hair. With that out of the way she heads downstairs, leaving the other girls to do the same.

Downstairs she sees Sophitia, Rothion, and their kids together enjoying breakfast. Sophitia notices her presence and says, "Sister… Oh, your eyes are so puffy! Have you been crying?"

"Well, a little." She admits.

"Why were you crying?" Pyrrah asks in a childlike, innocent tone.

"Where's Link? Did he come back too?" Patroklos asks, noticing he hasn't showed up.

"Link is…" She couldn't say anything to him. After what Link has done for him, Patroklos really looks up to him. There's no way she could explain to him what really happened. Rothion and Sophitia know, so she could at least say, "Link is gone for the moment. He has run into a little trouble and won't be around for now, but he'll definitely come back. I know he will."

As she said this, she presents the utmost confidence and politeness. Sophitia smiles and looks at Patroklos, saying, "Patroklos, why don't you leave Aunt Cassandra alone for now? Finish your breakfast."

"Okay, mommy." He says, going back to eating.

'Thank you,' Cassandra mouths to her sister, and then sits down next to her.

"So, what exactly are we to do with our guests?" Rothion asks, gathering Sophitia and Cassandra's attention. "I doubt we can keep them all here. Also, I was wondering when this dangerous quest of yours would end."

"Well, it's going to take a while, now that some things have gone astray." – Cassandra

"But don't worry. We still have an important piece of Soul Edge, and without it we still have an advantage." Sophitia adds, remembering the Soul Edge that belongs to Cervantes. Since that sword holds most of the missing pieces, they still have a chance to destroy Soul Edge without it completing. And now that Soul Calibur is awakening, the goddess of fortune may still be smiling on them.

"Okay, but what about the guests? If anymore people show up, we may not have room." – Rothion

"We'll think of something. Trust me." Sophitia tells Rothion, smiling at her husband to get him to agree. And he does.

Meanwhile the guys wake up and begin to start their day. They couldn't ask of Sophitia to feed them, since they would be finally drafted as ungrateful freeloaders, so instead they head out to eat. Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua go to town with Taki, Siegfried, and Talim. Necrid hasn't woken up yet and is still incapacitated.

"So what do we do now? Link is gone and Soul Edge is still around to kill people." Talim asks the group.

"What do you know, Heitan-chan? You didn't even come with us!" Xianghua says to the young girl.

"Heitan?" – Talim

"Zelda told Cassandra some things, so she should know what we don't. In the unlikely situation where we can't find Link, we'll just have to destroy Soul Edge ourselves, and move on." Taki says, feeling ashamed in those words. If Cassandra were here she would be getting an earful.

"If we were to mix normal ice with dry ice then it would still turn to smoke." Kilik says to Xianghua.

"No it wouldn't! It would just turn into normal ice!" She replies.

"Oh my god, not this again!" Maxi complains, banging his head onto the table. The Japanese pirate is rather tired of hearing the two compete in their conversations; despite being in love with each other they act like they're ten years old.

"Can you guys stop it with your stupid conversations?" Taki shouts at them.

Siegfried remains quiet out of all of them, slowly eating his meal. 'That guy spoke the truth… I can really save him…'

"Siegfried? Is something wrong?" Taki asks him, noticing he's rather silent. "You're not still beating yourself up over Nightmare, are you?"

"No, I'm alright. Just thinking." Siegfried's mind goes back to the man in armor.

'"You and the elf who saved you are vital to Soul Edge's destruction. The tainted Triforce of Power and Wisdom will increase the demon sword's power, and overcome the Blade of Evil's Bane. It will take Soul Calibur, the last piece, and that sword to defeat Soul Edge."'

'Who was he anyway? How did he know who I was?' – Siegfried

Later…

After breakfast, Cassandra heads to Rothion's blacksmith iron mill. Inside she finds a metal case fit to hold a blade at the very back. She then sees her weapons next to it and picks them up. 'They're still in the condition Rothion made them.'

_Flashback…_

_"Here." Zelda says to Cassandra. The two of them are still within the wind flying to the cathedral they came through. Suddenly her shield and sword appear on her back. "I stole these from you earlier but hung onto them."_

_"Thanks, but what about you?" Cassandra asks._

_"That sword is infused with magic. You probably didn't realize it before, but it's there. If you activate it you'll be fine in battle." She says to her. She then lowers her eyes and continues, "Even without this gift you already could use magic… Good luck, and remember what I told you before."_

_End Flashback…_

"I hope this work. I need to find Link as soon as possible," Says the Athenian as she equips her weapons. She then walks out of the mill, preparing to begin her search.

As she leaves she doesn't notice the presence of another evil nearby. The shadowy creature dashes through the shadows and enters the mill.

"Aunt Cassie, where ya goin'?" Pyrrah asks, looking up at her aunt. She was out playing with her brother Patroklos when she saw her leaving the mill.

"I'm going out for a while. You two stay out of trouble." She says in a playful tone. Cassandra then heads off, leaving the little kids alone.

As she left, Pyrrah hears a noise coming from the mill. Patroklos is busy chasing a roaming gecko and tries to catch it, so he didn't notice. But the little girl's curiosity got the better of her, and forces her to head towards the source of the noise.

Pyrrah enters the mill, looking around for whatever could have caused that noise. 'Nothing's here. I guess I was just imagining it,' Assumes the little girl.

Before she could leave, she hears a small noise. It was right next to the metal case at the back of the mill. She heads towards it, looking for the noise. She was so curious she didn't register the fact that it might have been just a mouse. Pyrrah comes before the metal case, and a strange look appears in her eyes. She places her hand on the locks and unlocks it.

Pyrrah lifts the case lid open, and she sees the sword of Cervantes, Soul Edge, inside. With the sacred metal and enchantments placed on it no one would be able to sense where it is unless they were up close. Pyrrah reaches out to touch it, but that's when a thud sound goes off behind her. She turns around quickly, now having a clear head, and all she could see before the next thing happened was blue skin.

Five Minutes Ago…

"That was all I had on me. My share of Link's gem really dried up." Maxi complains as he drinks a bottle of beer.

"That's cause you're a chronic alcoholic." Taki tells him.

"No I'm not! I can quit whenever I want!" He says to the woman. Taki reaches for his bottle, but he yanks it away from her hand. "Just not now."

"So, what do we do when we begin our search for Link? We won't know where he'll turn up or if he'll still be human," Says Xianghua, worried about the fate of her friend.

"You said Zasalamel placed the shard inside of his chest?" Siegfried asks Kilik and Xianghua. They both nod to confirm it. "So, if we can just find him we can remove the shard from him. He was resistant to Soul Edge's influence before, so there may still be a chance. I'll drive it out with Soul Calibur."

"I guess that's a good…" Taki pauses and looks straight ahead. This strange behavior catches the others by surprise.

"Taki? What's wrong?" Siegfried asks.

Taki runs further ahead to go after the object of her attention; up by a weapon's store stands a samurai, the same one that was following those Koreans. He notices her presence and turns towards the woman, a fierce look in his eyes and a hungry grin on his face. "So, you're here as well. But, I guess that makes sense."

"What are you doing here, Mitsurugi? Are you after Soul Edge again?" Taki asks the samurai, placing a hand on her backsword.

"Of course I am! I won't be satisfied unless I get to face a powerful opponent!" He says to her, placing a hand on his sword's hilt.

"Taki!" The others manage to catch up with her, and guard themselves against Mitsurugi. Xianghua then says, "Who's this guy?"

"He's Mitsurugi, a long archenemy of mine back during my demon hunting days." She tells them, her eyes not leaving the samurai.

Maxi's head tilts to the side as he looks at him, and says, "Wait… You mean that one man army, the mercenary Mitsurugi?"

"Ah, you know of my title, eh?" Mitsurugi turns his eyes to the pirate, walking past Taki to lock eyes with him. "Are you strong enough to match me?"

"Eh? You wanna fight?" Maxi challenges. He would do it, except he doesn't have a weapon.

"Maxi!" – Taki

"Maxi, you don't have a weapon to fight him with. He'd carve you to pieces." Kilik warns him.

"I don't need a weapon! I can stop steel with my bare hands." – Maxi

"No you can't!" – Xianghua

"What made you believe Soul Edge is here?" Taki asks the samurai.

"This." Mitsurugi holds up the bottle with Soul Edge in it. Everyone backs away from him when he whips it out. "It's been dragging me to Europe and then to Athens."

"Mitsurugi, give us the shard!" Taki tells her archenemy.

"Don't tell me what to do! I have no intention of using it until I fight Nightmare." Everyone tenses up when he hears that, and makes slight glances at Siegfried. Since he's the one who use to be called Nightmare that would mean Mitsurugi is after him. But why would the shard pull to him when he doesn't hold the sword anymore? "It seems to be connecting to a powerful Soul Edge piece. That could only mean it belongs to the actual sword itself."

'Is he talking about Cervantes' blade?' – Taki

"I would have found it by now, but I ran into some Korean fighters saving some wolf. Apparently it has a shard of Soul Edge inside of it, so I followed it… Then I got distracted by this weapon's shop." Mitsurugi explains, turning to the store right beside them.

"A wolf had a shard in it?" Siegfried asks, finding it rather suspicious.

'Korean fighters? Could he mean Yun-Seong and Seung Mina?' – Talim

Everyone except Taki get into a huddle. Kilik says, "You don't think that wolf could be Link, do you?"

"It's worth a shot. Let's go tell Cassandra." Xianghua says.

"Hey, what are you whispering?" – Mitsurugi

"I guess you can come with us. But you better not try anything funny, or you will die." Taki warns him, glaring deadly at the samurai.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up. It's not like me to sneak up on people to kill them. There's no honor in that; you should know that by now." He tells her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Let's go then!" Xianghua says, heading towards the castle. If there is a chance this wolf may be Link, Cassandra would need to know first out of everyone.

Everyone follows after Xianghua, some more enthusiastically than others. Mitsurugi reluctantly joins, believing they know something he doesn't. Following these guys would be the best way to find Nightmare.

Inside Sophitia's Home…

The scream of a female child echoes throughout the field. It reaches the ears of Sophitia inside of her home. She instantly recognizes the voice and turns towards the mill. "Pyrrah?"

Cassandra hears it too, not having moved too far to not hear it.

Patroklos hears the scream as well, and moves towards the mill. "Pyrrah?"

Out from the mill pops a Lizardman holding the girl in his arms. This one looks rather different; while the other lizards have green skin and look like raptors, this one looks like a cross between a raptor, a triceratops, and a frill necked lizard. It doesn't have a horn, but it looks so weird, especially with that light blue skin. In its right hand is an axe and in the other a shield that looks like a wing.

"Ah!" Patroklos backs away in fear, hoping to keep away from it. His body freezes over as it approaches him, and it snarls. The boy cries out in fear, shielding his face.

"Get away from my children!" Sophitia yells, running towards the creature and kicking it in the face. It falls far off away from the child and her, and even drops Pyrrah.

"Sophitia! Patroklos! Pyrrah!" Cassandra calls out as she runs towards them. She draws her blade and stands before her sister and her kids. "So they only sent one this time? Big mistake."

She lunges at the lizard in an attempt to cut it down, but the creature blocks with its shield and slides by. "What?"

It then cuts down her back, causing blood to squirt out for that moment. She collapses to the ground and turns back to the creature. It stomps down on her head and lifts its axe up, prepared to cut her head off.

"Cassandra!" Sophitia charges the lizard to knock it down, but suddenly a wolf leaps at the creature and bites its arm. Coincidentally this is the same wolf from earlier. Lizardman struggles and tosses the wolf off. The Lizardman glares at the wolf and charges at it, snarling and hissing. Its neck frill opens up as saliva oozes from its fangs. The wolf growls and charges at the lizard, head butting the creature in the skull. This only causes the lizard to be slightly dazed, and forces it to regain its senses.

Cassandra soon gets over her injuries and stands up on one knee. "What was that?"

"Cassandra, are you okay?" Sophitia asks her little sister.

"Sister, I'm fine. But…" She pauses when she looks at the wolf battling the lizard. A strange, tingling, feeling rises up in her heart as she looks into its eyes. 'Is that…'

"There it is!" Someone calls out. The two Korean friends arrive at the scene in time to see the fight. Mina then says, "It's another Lizardman."

"Who are those weirdoes?" – Cassandra

Sophitia returns to her children, and notices Pyrrah looks rather pale. She's also really cold. "Pyrrah? Pyrrah!"

The Lizardman ducks as the wolf leaps at it, avoiding its fangs once more. As it comes back for another, the lizard swings its tail and knocks it away. Seung Mina charges at the Lizardman with her zanbatou, but it dodges her attack and leaps onto her shoulders. As Cassandra and Yun-Seong go after them, it jumps off of Mina. But its tail wraps around the woman's weapon and rips it out of her hands.

"Hey, give that back!" She shouts.

The Lizardman spins over Yun-Seong and throws the weapon back at them with its tail. Yun-Seong manages to dodge at the last minute, but it manages to stab into Mina's left leg. She falls backwards in pain. "Mina!"

As the Lizardman lands, Cassandra watches it in amazement. 'How can it be so strong? All the others were rather weak.'

The wolf walks over to Cassandra and looks up to her. She turns her attention to it, and gasps. That same tingling feeling appears in her as she looks down at the wolf. She then bends down, dropping her weapons, and places her hand on the wolf's cheekbones. "You… Are you Link?"

Her question causes the wolf to perk its ears up. Sophitia turns to her sister, a little confused as to why she would think that. "Link?"

"Sssso it'ssss true, he did become a wild animal," Says the lizardman. This catches everyone by surprise, mostly because they have never talked before. The lizardmen, who are humans experimented on by a sect and turned into brainless slaves to follow Soul Edge's biddings, have never had the intelligence to speak in human language.

"You can talk," Asks the surprised Korean Yun-Seong

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Seung Mina asks in a calm voice, which is weird considering the fact that she just got a blade caught in her leg.

"I am Aeon Calcussss, a member of twenty four warriorssss that recccceived an oracle from Hephaesssstussss." It says, causing both Cassandra and Sophitia to gasp. They know that name so well because it was the Greek God of forge. Aeon points to Sophitia with his tail and says, "Like her, I wassss sssset to find and desssstroy Ssssoul Edge. But I wassss driven inssssane and humanssss turned me into this freak you sssssee!"

"You were? But…" – Cassandra

"Aeon? Is that really you?" Sophitia asks him, finally recognizing the name.

"You know him?" Cassandra asks her sister.

"Yeah, but only briefly. We met once on our journey before we went our separate ways." – Sophitia

"I was put under their control and forced to do their bidding, like kidnap a child belonging to some white giant, but when Ssssoul Edge wassss sssstruck I wassss free! And now, I will resssstore Ssssoul Edge, and kill the god that abandoned me!" Aeon says as it slams its tail to the ground. His eyes lock onto Cassandra and her sister. "You two sssshould quit while you're ahead. No, you sssshould join me! Join Ssssoul Edge and take over thosssse wretched godssss."

"How dare you speak such blasphemy against our gods? Has Soul Edge ruined your heart as well?" Sophitia shouts at it, clutching her sick daughter tightly.

"It'ssss true! Our god didn't protect me when I needed it! When I wassss driven inssssane our godsssss did nothing to ssssave me!" Aeon roars at Sophitia, exposing its tongue. "It'ssss the ssssame for you too; your god didn't warn you of Ssssoul Edge around your home. They didn't even protect your children when they found it," The lizardman turns to the wolf. "The elf ssssuffered assss well. When he became an animal no one protected him. They let him ssssuffer this fate, and allowed hissss wife to die."

"Shut up!" Cassandra shouts at the lizard. She then clutches the wolf in her arms, and says, "What happened to Link wasn't because the gods neglected him! It's because of the damn monsters you're serving! I may not like the gods for what they did to my sister, but even they are better people than those under Soul Edge!"

"Sssso there'ssss no changing your mindssss." Aeon figures as it glares at the humans around him.

"Sophitia! Cassandra!" Someone calls out. Everyone turns their attention to the warriors who have finally arrived: Siegfried, Taki, Mitsurugi, Kilik, Talim, Xianghua and Maxi.

"Talim!" Yun-Seong and Seung Mina call out, noticing the Philippine girl with them.

"Yun-Seong! Seung Mina!" – Talim

"You… Are you Aeon?" Siegfried asks the lizard, his appearance familiar to him.

"Nightmare, you are a fool. You will have to be eliminated assss well." Aeon says to him, snarling at the former master of Soul Edge.

'Nightmare?' – Mitsurugi

"Yeah. I have no intention of becoming that monster again." – Siegfried

"Give up the shard and get rid of the curse on my child!" Sophitia shouts at the lizard, still holding her daughter. The others, not including Cassandra and the wolf, begin to surround Aeon.

Aeon lifts its arms and turns around, looking at everyone brandishing their weapons. It chuckles and then says, "Foolssss. If you think you can, come at me then. I'm not like thosssse Dinolfossss. Get them!"

As it snaps its fingers, a throng of Lizalfos and Dinolfos come out from the surroundings and attack the humans. All but Siegfried make their assault on them, with the owner of Soul Calibur brandishing his holy blade to face Aeon. The blond swordsman swings down at him, blocking with his shield.

"Ssssoul Edge will desssstroy everything! A copy made to desssstroy the original will fail!" Aeon says to Siegfried with a deeper voice. "You will die, sssso will the elf."

"No one else will die anymore! Especially not for Soul Edge!" Siegfried shouts, releasing energy from his sword. Soul Calibur repels Aeon and sends it flying.

Aeon lands on its back and rolls back to its feet, snarling at Siegfried. Mitsurugi comes charging at it, after having slain a Dinolfos, his sword drawn to take it out. The blue lizardman leaps on top of his shoulders and hops away into the air, having avoided Mitsurugi's attack completely.

"Cassandra, come here! I'll take care of Link!" Sophitia says to her sister. Cassandra runs over to her, having Link the wolf follow her.

"Link? He's here?" Taki asks, looking around for him.

Aeon heads towards Cassandra, its mouth opening wide as he goes after her and Link. Cassandra holds the wolf in her arms to protect him from the creature.

Suddenly, Necrid comes bursting through the back door of Sophitia's home and runs towards the Lizardman. It extends its ethereal weapon at Aeon, who is forced to dodge. Yun-Seong cuts down a lizardman and gasps, shouting, "Ah! It's that weird monster that kidnapped Talim!"

"No, Yun-Seong! He's on our side now!" Talim says to her friend. She and the others regroup around Cassandra, focusing their attention at the reptiles. Mitsurugi, Taki and Siegfried pace themselves behind the reptiles to cut off their escape.

"It'ssss time to end thissss game!" Aeon holds up a shard of Soul Edge it had with it all along. Placing the shard inside its forehead Aeon's power level goes off the chart. The other reptiles get a power up too in response to their leader's strength.

"(He's getting stronger! We have to stop them!)" Necrid says, although no one could tell exactly what he was saying.

"Uh, what?" – Maxi

"Just take it as 'let's go' and kick their butts!" Xianghua says, charging at the lizards.

"Xianghua, don't go rushing to your death!" Kilik and Maxi go to back her up.

As they strike, a Dinolfos blocks them with its shield. This catches them by surprise, as they could normally force it back with their strengths combined. But it seems to be much stronger than before. It swings its tail and knocks all three of them back. Three more Dinolfos team up with that one, as Aeon approaches the heroes.

It snarls as it releases more of Soul Edge's energy. Aeon soon grows a little taller, its neck frill turns black and red along with its scales, and pterodactyl wings grow on its back. Siegfried begins to call forth more of Soul Calibur's power so it could prepare him for this fight.

"Samurai, can you and Taki tackle one of the big ones while I handle the leader?" Siegfried requests of the two beside him.

"Sure." – Taki

"Eh, why not?" – Mitsurugi

"Die!" Aeon shouts, causing his team of four to go after the group in front of him. Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua face the one that struck them before. Yun-Seong, Talim and Seung Mina, who is still injured from earlier, have to deal with number two. Necrid faces the third alone. That leaves Taki and Mitsurugi to deal with the last one.

Aeon is left unchallenged, and faces Cassandra, Sophitia, the wolf, and the kids. "Where'ssss your protective god now, Ssssophitia?"

"An idiot like you won't need to be bothered by my sister," Says the younger sister. She charges at Aeon with her sword and shield ready.

"No, Cassandra! You won't stand a chance against him!" Sophitia calls out to her sister.

"Shut up! I'll do what I want!" Cassandra shouts back, jabbing her sword at the lizard.

It slaps it away with its tail and swings its axe at her. She blocks with the shield, but gets blown away by the wind released by the sheer force of Aeon's swing. With her out of the way it focuses its attention on the wolf and goes after him.

"Link!" Cassandra calls out. Link moves away from Sophitia and her children, and prepares to face it. Using this opportunity she takes her children inside to safety.

But then Necrid manages to knock down his opponent. He then rushes towards Aeon, swinging its weapon as a large halberd to stab the side of its body. Aeon however rips itself free of its lower half and continues towards the wolf. Without any legs it moves on by flying.

"Link!" Cassandra screams, running towards the wolf as fast as she could.

But by the time she could reach a foot, the wolf leaps at the flying half lizard. This choice was the right one, since it manages to head butts the shard in its forehead. This disrupts the reptile's demon energy, and forces it to take to the sky. Cassandra manages to reach the wolf and stands before him so she could protect him.

At that moment Maxi charges energy into his nunchaku and strikes the helmet of a Dinolfos, damaging its helmet. The helmet dents over its eyes, preventing it from seeing. Xianghua and Kilik charge at the lizard and strike it in the heart, killing it once and for all.

The Dinolfos Necrid neglected charges at it from behind. Talim shouts, "Look out!"

But it was too late; the Dinolfos stabs into the enigma's back, having the blade come out from the other side. Necrid falls to its hands and knees as the creature pulls its blade out.

Mitsurugi clashes blades with his opponent while Taki sneaks behind it. She then uses a fireball technique and heats the armor. It then turns around to face her, just as she uses a water technique to cool it off. The armor begins to crack suddenly, leaving it exposed now. Mitsurugi comes at it from the front and charges energy to his sword, swinging horizontally to cut through it with lightning strikes. The armor is shattered to pieces in the process.

Aeon comes closer to the ground as Siegfried approaches it. "You should give up now. Your plans will fail soon!"

"You are the one who sssshould give up. Don't you know anything about lizzzzardssss," Says Aeon as its lower limbs begins to grow back. It then lands safely on the ground. "We can grow back our body parts as much as we want."

"Then it's your head that's coming off." Siegfried swings Soul Calibur down at Aeon, but it blocks with the shield. It then slips by the giant blade and lifts its axe up. Cassandra comes up at it from behind, her sword prepared to pierce its skin.

Aeon's tail swings at her, causing the woman to block with her shield. It then flies up above them, leaving the Dinolfos to sneak attack the two. Siegfried raises his blade to protect Cassandra. "You sneak in while I hold it like this."

Cassandra nods and ducks underneath the Dinolfos, stabbing her sword into its stomach. She then lifts it up, yelling as she used all her power. A streak of energy releases from her blade when she does, cutting the creature in half.

A surprised Siegfried looks at her in shock. 'Wow… She's pretty strong.'

Aeon flies down towards the wolf to kill it this time. But when it swings it cuts into Necrid instead. It then says, "I will not allow you to take his life."

Soon everyone stops what they're doing, even the last Dinolfos, and turns to Necrid. Of course they would be surprised and stunned, because Necrid has just spoken in human language. Although with Aeon talking they should have been good. "You sssspeak?"

"Of course… I remember everything that has happened to me, and I won't let that sword continue doing what it has done!" Necrid stabs its ethereal weapon at Aeon, extending it to pin the lizard into the ground. More blood continues to drip from Necrid's wounds as it keeps the lizard pinned.

The wolf takes this as a chance to finish it off, leaping and flipping into the air and landing onto Aeon jaws first. His fangs sink into Aeon's skull and latch onto something. Using all his strength he pulls back, ripping out the miserable creature's Soul Edge shard and some of its brains.

Aeon falls back to the ground, its heart stopping in that instance. The wolf spits the shard away from the lizard, just to be safe, and crawls away from the body. Necrid releases the dead body and falls to the ground.

"Necrid!" Talim stops her fight and goes after the fallen creature. The Dinolfos takes this as a sign to run. With its master dead it knows that it wouldn't stand a chance. Of course Taki and Mitsurugi chase after it to finish the creature off.

"Thank you… Thank you for giving me a chance. I am eternally grateful to you." Necrid says to her. He then falls to the ground, a smile plastered on his face. His last thoughts go to a family he knows, a wife and child.

"Necrid!" Talim tries to wait the fallen monster up, hoping he could still be alive. Siegfried approaches it, placing Soul Calibur over its body. He feels nothing coming out of the sword, and sighs. He looks away sad.

"I'm sorry," Says Siegfried, removing Soul Calibur from his body. "Soul Calibur doesn't seem to be working. I'm sorry."

"I see… Thank you Siegfried," Says Talim, a sad look in her eyes as she looks down at Necrid.

Meanwhile Taki and Mitsurugi continue chasing the Dinolfos, and manage to corner it. Mitsurugi draws his sword and says, "Just where do you think you're going?"

Before it could do anything, it becomes covered in black flames. The flames consume and incinerate the poor lizard. The surprised Japanese warriors watch in shock as it begins to die, leaving nothing left but ashes.

"What was that?" Taki asks, putting her knife-blade away.

"It was killed off. I guess their boss doesn't take failure too well." Mitsurugi sheaths his sword to, and then glares at Taki. She sends a hateful look at him too. "What? You look like you got something on your mind."

"Mitsurugi, I will fight you some other time. Right now I have to help Link and destroy Soul Edge. If you're going to get in the way then I'll strike you down." – Taki

"Eh, whatever. I might as well help out. If you end up dying there will be no one left in the world for me to fight." He says to her. "That knight guy seems strong as well."

"You have no idea…" She whispers.

Back with the others they begin their burial of Necrid's body. They were going to do Zelda, but this works just as well. The real problem now is Pyrrah; whatever Aeon did to her hasn't lifted.

Sophitia sits by her daughter's bedside, watching the sick girl. Her heart continues to grow painful as she looks at her, and tears come down from her eyes. "Pyrrah…"

"Sophitia, can I come in?" The German knight says on the other side of the door.

"Yes, come in." Siegfried opens the door and enters the room.

"How is she?" He asks, approaching the bed. Soul Calibur is sheathed on his back.

"She's still in pain… Taki looked at her, but she couldn't do anything. Soul Edge is causing this curse!" She says, more tears coming from her eyes.

"I think I can save her." Siegfried says, placing the sword over the little girl's body. "Soul Calibur, please save this child."

Instead of answering his call, Soul Calibur remains silent. No matter how much he tries to reach it, nothing happens. Upset over another failed attempt, Siegfried removes the sword from the little girl. He closes his eyes and then turns away, saying, "I'm sorry. It wouldn't answer my call."

"It's okay. Soul Calibur is a new weapon you have. Maybe it'll take some time for you to use it." Sophitia tells him. She tries to sound cheerful, but the upset look in her eyes is a clear sign that she wishes it worked.

Downstairs the wolf rests in Cassandra's lap. She and the others are still awaiting Siegfried's return so he could heal the wolf. The Athenian girl continues to brush his fur, noticing how much dirt and stuff is in there. She finishes, saying, "There."

"Why did you clean his hair out now? Can't he just take a bath later when he's human?" Xianghua asks her. Kilik taps her on the shoulder, shaking his head no. "Kilik?"

"Just let them be. She's happy with Link in her arms, at least I hope that's Link." – Kilik

"You mean there's a chance that wolf over there is just a wolf?" Xianghua questions, a bit of fear in her voice.

"Maybe. I hope it's him." Kilik says, showing worry as well.

Siegfried finally walks downstairs and sees everyone waiting for him. Cassandra stands up first, prompting the wolf to leap off of her. She asks, "Did it work? Is Pyrrah cured?"

Siegfried breathes in deeply, and says, "It wouldn't listen to me."

"I see." Cassandra sits back down, sounding a little disappointed.

"Hey, are you sure you're using it right?" Yun-Seong asks the knight.

"Yun-Seong, be quiet!" Seung Mina says, whacking him upside the head.

Siegfried holds up Soul Calibur to his face and looks at the gem. "I don't understand. Sophi-I mean, Claire told me I would be able to use it… How come it isn't working?"

"You probably need to practice with it." Seung Mina says to him, while forcing Yun-Seong to the ground.

"I guess…" Suddenly a bright light releases from the sword's gem. This captures everyone's attention.

A voice resonates through Siegfried's mind. 'Place the sword over the wolf's head.'

'Who are you?' He asks.

'Just do it.' It says to him. For some reason the voice sounds just like Claire's.

"Right." Not hesitating, Siegfried holds Soul Calibur over the wolf.

"What are you doing?" Cassandra asks him, being a little overprotective of the wolf.

"Don't worry. It should work this time." Siegfried touches Soul Calibur on top of the wolf's forehead.

Soul Calibur's light blue energy releases and a fierce wind blows. Cassandra stands back so she wouldn't get caught in the energy release. The wolf begins to grit its fangs and growls, as a glowing red shard rises from its forehead. It then pops out, landing safely beside Cassandra.

The wolf growls a little more, before giving a final howl. Soon the wolf begins to glow bright blue, just like Soul Calibur, and the Triforce appears on its left paw. The wolf's silhouette stands up and transforms, taking the form of a human.

Someplace…

"So, Aeon was defeated… Oh well." Inferno says, walking away from the castle he was in. Beside him are Raphael and Zasalamel, both ready and able.

"What do we do about the elf?" Raphael questions as they leave the castle. "By now they know who he is and will save him."

"It won't matter. Even if Soul Calibur saves him from the shard, the curse placed upon him will still hold. Beside, the only thing that can save him is the Master Sword, and that's been put out of the way. No one on Earth possesses the wisdom to remove the shard." Inferno announces. "Zasalamel, are those old hags doing what they were told?"

"They've already done it. This will give them a nice distraction." Zasalamel informs him.

"Good, good. We begin as soon as possible. Now that Zelda isn't holding me back anymore he's as good as dead." A portal opens up before them. As they pass through, the castle explodes into flames.

* * *

Julia: And with that we end this chapter.

Dante: What? That's it? We're not going to see what happens next?

Julia: Transcending history, and the world; a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold. The deck of light's ace card returns, and the gamble for the future continues. The ace has to relive the past in order to reach the present, and tears will restore his courage.

Next time on A Love Forged By Blades And Souls – The Link Of The Past


	25. A Link of The Past

_**ALF**_

Disclaimer: I'm not doing this again. Please don't make me say that stupid line!

Julia: You think Link could maintain a harem?

Dante: Probably. That's what A Tale of Souls, Swords and Masks seems to be going for. It's actually the best Zelda/Soul Calibur story I've read.

Julia: What about Sindel's stories?

Dante: Meh, too long. Not to mention she quit on some of- Oh crap, we're back on!

Julia: Hello, everyone! In this chapter Link returns! Sort of… He sort of returns.

Dante: And you say Kenshin spoils things. Anyway, this chapter may be a little short.

_**Chapter 25: A Link of The Past**_

* * *

In The Forest Near The Cathedral…

Deep in the forest, a figure can be seen walking through the woods. A few animals notice the person, and keep their distance, recognizing the dark aura it keeps releasing. The person reaches light, and her pale face appears finally. It is Ivy, daughter of Cervantes.

"That foolish monster… I'm make them all pay…" She says as she continues. Blood drips from her right arm as she moves.

Back To Action…

"I'm back!" Link shouts, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Link!" Cassandra says, but pauses when she looks at him.

Everyone stares in surprise at the elf. He looks no different than what everyone expected, except for the fact that he's a little smaller. Looking at Link, everyone could see he's a little child. He's also naked, his clothes and items surrounding him.

Silence fills the room as everyone looks at the boy. Soon Maxi and Yun-Seong burst out laughing. "What the hell? You've shrunk man!"

"Eh?" Link looks down at himself, and realizes he's naked. "Uh, what happened? Why am I naked? And why are you guys taller?"

"Well, hold that thought," Siegfried holds Soul Calibur to Link, allowing him to see his reflection. The moment he sees it he gasps.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" – Link

"Oh my. It seems something went wrong." Taki says, turning to Kilik and Xianghua.

"It seems so. Well, at least it's Link." – Kilik

"Oh great! Now I gotta grow up all over again! It feels like my life started all over again!" Link complains, covering himself with his tunic. He notices Cassandra looking at him. "What? Something wrong?"

"Link is… so cute!" Cassandra reaches out and hugs the child, blushing at how cute Link is.

"Hey, let go!" – Link

Later…

"So, Link became a kid…" Sophitia asks, watching Link try on Patroklos' clothes. They seem to fit him quite well actually.

"It's weird. I was sure Soul Calibur would cure him, but it only made things slightly better." Siegfried says, holding his sword before him. He and Sophitia are in the kid's room with Cassandra, Taki and Talim. Pyrrah is still resting from the sudden illness.

"The curse placed on the shard must have moved from it to him. Soul Calibur must not be able to work on spells from Link's world." – Siegfried

"Perfect!" Link is seen wearing an assortment of brown clothes with matching boots. "Now I have nothing to feel ashamed about."

"Link, do you remember anything that happened to you?" Cassandra asks, bending down before the boy.

"Huh?" Link begins to think of what happened to him while he was a wolf, and before he became a wolf. "To be honest, I can only remember a little of when I was a wolf. I can't remember much of how I became one or a little before that."

'So he doesn't remember Zelda dying. Should I tell him?' – Cassandra

"Well, it's just good that you're okay. I'm sure that being a child is better than a wolf." Sophitia says to him.

"Yeah. It sucks being a wolf; I had no opposable thumbs, I couldn't see colors, and I couldn't look up." He complains, remembering the horrible ordeal of being a wolf.

"That's dogs that can't look up." – Cassandra

"Whatever!" Link looks up at Pyrrah, a sad look on his face. "It's weird though; when I first heard rumors of Soul Edge people said it was a Sword of Destruction, and others called it the Sword of Salvation… I had also heard of a sword that opposes it called Soul Calibur and thought people mistook Soul Edge as the Sword of Salvation. So why did it only save me?"

"I believe that is a mystery no one can figure out yet." Sophitia says, thinking about that for a bit. "For now, let's think about how to reverse the curse."

"Yeah." Link leaves the room and heads downstairs, leaving the two sisters alone with Pyrrah.

Sophitia watches her daughter fall asleep, placing a wet cloth over her forehead. "Cassandra, he doesn't know about Zelda does he?"

"He might have lost some of his memories. Either he'll get them back, or I might have to tell him." Cassandra says. She glances at the back of her left hand, where Zelda held her.

Link walks outside with his bag and the clothes he borrowed from Patroklos. "For some reason, I feel like I'm forgetting something."

The boy wanders into town, his mind trying to remember something that happened to him.

"Where's Link?" Cassandra asks as she heads downstairs.

"Oh, I think he went out." Kilik tells her as he meditates. She approaches him with an angry look on her face.

"And you let him go? Don't you realize that people are after him?" – Cassandra

"Don't worry; Taki went to keep an eye on him." Xianghua says, trying to meditate as well. It was harder for her though.

"Bad news!" Rothion says, coming into the living room with an empty case. "The Soul Edge sword that belonged to Cervantes is gone!"

"What?" Cassandra shouts. Everyone else in the room stands to attention and looks at the empty case. While only Cassandra, Link, Taki, Rothion and Sophitia knew about it, it was no secret that there was a source of Soul Edge near the house. But with Taki's spell tags placed on the inside she made sure no one would be able to find out unless they were close up. Cassandra then muses over the disappearing Soul Edge and Aeon's assault.

"You guys had Cervantes' blade?" Siegfried asks, recognizing the shape the inside of the case has.

"Link stole it from Cervantes when we defeated him oversea. We were hoping to hide it here until we could destroy it." Cassandra explains.

"I see. So that's what they were after all along." Kilik says, gathering everyone's attention.

Someplace Secluded…

The creepy assassin known as Voldo approaches an island on board a pirate ship. In his hands is the blade of Soul Edge, the one that belonged to the Immortal Pirate Cervantes. As he reaches the island he sees the dark figure of Inferno.

"Do you have it?" He questions the blind-death man. He holds out the sword and allows Inferno to take hold of it. He grins, saying, "Good. Now for the combining!"

He clangs the swords together and hoists them high up into the air. A dark red light illuminates from the swords and radiates into the air. They release a shockwave of energy before combining into a single blade. It now stands as tall as Inferno's body, with the same eye as the guard, and is opposite in appearance to Soul Calibur.

Inferno laughs and stabs his sword into the ground, releasing a destructive amount of energy. "It's perfect. I have all the strength I need now."

"What about the elf? He's still alive," Says an old, raggedy woman flying down on a broomstick.

"Yes, he will definitely cause problems if he is left alone, not to mention both Soul Calibur and Siegfried are still in our way," Says a second woman of the same age. These two look rather similar, almost like twins. Except the first one has red while the other has light blue on their rags.

"All in good time Kotake, Koume. The elf is too weak to handle us. We can finish him off as soon as possible… But Soul Calibur is a problem; Good thing I have a plan that can get rid of both of them at the same time. All you two have to do is find a suitable monster for me to use." – Inferno

"Anything for Ganondorf!" They both say in unison, before flying off.

As they leave, Inferno continues to think of the holy blade Soul Calibur. The image of a pretty girl comes to mind as well. 'What do you plan on doing to my former host, Claire?'

Zasalamel appears before Inferno, several blue armor pieces floating around him. They fall to the ground. "I have found the armor."

"Good. Now, work your magic. I shall assimulate a part of my mind into this armor." Inferno stabs Soul Edge into the armor, releasing his dark energy throughout the steel. Zasalamel chants incoherently as he holds his hands out to the armor. "By the way, what happened to Tira and that Hellspawn?"

"Don't worry. He won't be bothering us any time soon." – Zasalamel

Elsewhere…

Back in town, Link continues to survey the place with glee. That childlike innocence of his has returned along with his age. He is too wrapped up in it to notice Taki trailing him. 'Why does Link do these things? Something bad always happens when he's alone.'

'Well, I better make the most of things while being a child. I think I need a refill on some items.' Link begins to search through his bag. There he sees that he has only three arrows left along with two different bombs. He's also low on Rupee, with only a green, a blue, and a red left. That silver one paid for their trip to Athens, but the rest of the shillings are in Cassandra's possession. 'I've been in this world for months, and I still don't understand this stupid currency thing. Some countries have different types of currencies; I mean, what the hell does yen mean anyway?'

After he finishes looking through his stuff, he heads to the nearest weapon's store.

"Excuse me, do you sell arrows?" Link asks a weapon's storeowner.

"Aren't you a little young to be buying arrows? Can your arms even pull a string?" He asks the little boy.

"No, no I'm not. Shut up! I can use a bow pretty well." Link tells him, glaring at him angrily.

"I really doubt tha…" The owner takes a moment to look at Link's ears. "What, uh, what's with your ears?"

"Um… My parents are brother and sister." He lies.

"You're a terrible liar. Get out!" He tells Link.

The boy walks outside the shop with disappointment. Although he would normally wear something over his ears to cover up, he didn't think anyone would suspect anything if a little child has long ears; they'd think it was a prank. "Someone once sad being a bad liar was a good thing."

Link continues to look around, searching for any shops that may sell to him. This time he would cover his ears by using an extra cloth he keeps in his bag. The next shop he enters has the words, 'Swift Edge' on top. Interestingly enough, the words are in Hylian. This is enough for him to enter the shop.

To Taki though what she sees is a different story; the ninja sees Link disappearing into thin air. "Link," She calls out, heading towards where he vanished. Her finger reaches out to touch where Link last went, and touches something invisible. "A barrier?"

Inside, Link sees a store with plenty of weapons and ammunition adorning the walls and shelves. Behind a counter stands an old man with a long beard. He has some form of scars on his baldhead, probably from years of fighting. The man looks down at Link, and asks, "May I help you?"

"Uh, yeah… Do you sell arrows? I need a refill." He asks.

"Arrows eh? Well we do sell them." The man says, looking behind him to see a quiver of arrows in place.

Link takes out a green Rupee and hands it to him. "Will this cover fifty?"

"I'm afraid not. These cost 50 rupee for fifty arrows." He tells Link. This surprises him even more, even though he should have suspected when he saw the sign was in Hylian.

Link finally brings up the question, "Can I ask who you really are?"

"Of course, but first you must tell me," The old man leaps from behind the counter and grabs a halberd, stabbing at Link. He misses intentionally and cuts off the cloth around his head, exposing his ears. "What is your name?"

Link's eyes widen in surprise when this old man speaks Hylian, although he should have suspected as much from the two clues earlier. "Link."

"I knew it. I guess that curse did this to you then, Hero of Time." The old man says to Link. He hangs his halberd back up and holds his right hand out to the door. Soon, Taki comes flying in, as if she fell.

"Taki?" – Link

"Link, what happened? You just…" She quickly notices the old man. With him in her sights she draws Rekkimaru and gets in a stance. "You're the one who put up that barrier, aren't you?"

"Taki, wait!" – Link

"It's okay. I have no intention of harming the Hero of Time. His survival is necessary for Soul Edge's destruction." The old man informs Taki, who doesn't lessen her blade still.

"Who?" – Taki

"He means me. I'm the Hero of Time." Link tells Taki, who begins to lower her guard a little. He then smirks a bit, saying, "It's weird; I didn't think anyone knew that title from here, but I guess you must get around. You've been to Hyrule, haven't you?"

"Yes I have. I kind of like your culture better than this world's." He says to him.

"Can you tell me what your name is? I'm a little lost here trying to understand who you are and what your intentions could be." Taki says to the man.

"I don't have a name; after years of practicing every style there is to know, I've long since lost the use of a name." He says to her.

"Says here you're called Edge Master." Link says, holding up a piece of paper with his photo on it. He found it on the counter.

Surprised at that, Edge Master snatches the paper away and says, "I am Edge Master."

"You know, you could have just told us. It's actually the first time hearing that name for me." – Taki

"Anyway, I believe you are still under the curse placed on the Soul Edge shard." Edge Master says, as Link stands up straight and listens to him. "The Triforce is already working your magic into repelling the spell, but it may take a while. At the moment you can't afford to waste anymore time; the Master Sword will need to be free of its curse."

"How do you know all of that?" Link asks. The only way someone would have known about those things is they were there. And although Link can't remember what exactly happened, he does know this is the first time he's seen this guy.

"How can we free the Master Sword of the shard, and the curse placed on it?" – Taki

"Removing the shard will have the same results as it did for Link here; it's a curse that only works on light magic, causing an inbalance that disrupts and seals the same energy. Only the same magic that casted the spell can restore the Master Sword to its original power, the Triforce of Wisdom." Those last words cause Link to shoot his head up. He also gains a shocked expression on his face.

"W-Wisdom? But, that's Zelda's… How could she have placed the spell when she died?" Link questions.

"I see. Your memories have faultered a bit." Edge Master places his left hand on top of Link's forehead, and a faint glow appears on his head.

In a flash, memories begin to flood through Link's head.

"_Kilik, Xianghua, what's going on… Why is Zelda, why is Zelda alive?"_

_"You… What about your daughter?"_

_"Zelda! What are you doing? You can't really be thinking of working with these loons, right?"_

_"Of course! Even if I can never live with Link again, at least, at least I had my one strike against you! This is my revenge for all you've done to me, Inferno!"_

_"LINK!"_

These memories of the time he entered what he thought was Ganondorf's throne room have finally returned, and he now remembers what really happened. A shocked look appears on his face as he continues to replay these events in his head, and sadness overwhelms him.

"Link, are you alright?" Taki asks him. Instead of answering her he leaves the shop, forgetting about Edge Master and the need to replenish his supply of weapons for the moment. Something more serious has caught his attention. Taki could see the sadness in him, and turns to Edge Master. "What did you do to him?"

"I only showed him memories of the time he was up at that castle. It seems he may have forgotten some of them." Edge Master informs the woman. He then points to Link, saying, "Shouldn't you make sure he doesn't get into trouble?"

"Right. But this isn't over. You will tell me what you know soon." Taki chases after the boy, leaving the invisible store.

'What a busy day.' – Edge Master

That Night…

Link sits outside of Sophitia's home, up in a tree. He holds out the Ocarina of Time and lets it gleam in the moonlight. His mind fills with memories of him and Zelda; all the way from the first time they've met, up to their final reunion two days ago.

"Zelda." He whispers to himself.

"Link!" A voice calls out. Link looks down and sees Cassandra looking up at him from below. She has a serious look on her face. "There you are."

"Oh, hey!" Link quickly pockets the Ocarina and tries to put on a smile. "I'll be in soon. Just getting some fresh air before I go to bed."

"Link, I heard what happened today from Taki. You remembered what happened to Zelda, didn't you?" Cassandra asks him.

"She told you huh…" Link hops down from the branch and lands before her. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Link, you're a bad liar. I know you're upset just by looking at your eyes." Cassandra says, looking deep into his clear blue eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I said I'm fine! Let's just leave it at that!" He tells her, turning away from his fiance. "Besides, I can't cry about something like this."

"What?" – Cassandra

"I won't let something like this get to me. I don't need to cry." He says to her.

"You won't cry? For the death of someone you really loved?" Cassandra qeustions him.

"Before I became a hero, before I even took up a sword, I was just a lazy crybaby. I did nothing but cry whenever I failed or got hurt. To suddenly be told to fight against monsters was too much. I almost wet myself looking at Gohma." Link begins, his sadness shown through his voice. He fixes himself and continues with, "When I met Zelda I decided to continue, believing I could bear through this fear for all the people who believed in me. But when I returned to her with the Goron Ruby she could see the fear and pain I had, and she began to cry too. She was sad that she had forced such a burden on a person like me.

"That's when I realized that crying would only make things worse for others; because so many people had put their faith in me, someone who cries when they see a monster, I couldn't show any weakness." Link then turns to Cassandra. "That's why I can't cry. I can't let people who believed in me see me as a crybaby, or else they'd only worry and cry more."

"I see." Cassandra says before closing her eyes.

Silence breaks out between them, the only sound coming from the howling wind and the people inside Sophitia's home. Link breaks the silence by saying, "I'll be heading inside now. We should prepare for what to do…"

Before he could finish, Cassandra bends down and hugs Link. The surprised elf turns his head a bit to hers. "C-Cassandra?"

"Link, it's okay. If you want to cry, go ahead and do it around me." She says to him.

"Huh?" – Link

"Just because you're a hero doesn't mean you don't have to have a closed heart." Cassandra continues. "You've already done so much for us, for me, it's only right for me to do something for you. Sometimes, it's right to give Link a hug, right?

"So please, don't shoulder so much pain by yourself. Until the day where we can finally be together, I will help shoulder the pain you have, so you can let it all out. After all, if the man she loved, the man she gave everything up for, won't cry for her, how can you expect Zelda to have a peaceful afterlife?" As she finishes her speech, Link could feel all that locked away sadness flow up. The pain and anguish he felt when he first believed Zelda died, and the same feelings he has now that he tried to lock away as well are both coming up. Tears gather in his eyes before he does what's natural.

He cries. Link cries into Cassandra's arms. Cassandra continues to hug him as he bauls even harder. Inside of Sophitia's home, some of the warriors inside could hear him, with the only exceptions being the ones asleep. Sophitia hears him as well, and can only feel sad for his pain.

And he cries himself to sleep, resting in the arms of the woman who has devoted her life to him.

* * *

Julia: And that's the end of this chapter. What a baby.

Dante: Oh, what do you know?

Julia: Transcending history, and the world; a tale of souls and…

Dante: Just get on with it!

Julia: A Love Forged By Blades And Souls – The Return of Time


	26. A Link of The Past 2

**_A Love Forged By Blades and Souls_**

Disclaimer: I'm not saying this again.

Julia: We will now begin the next chapter of A Love Forged.

Dante: An old enemy of the Zelda series drips into their lives.

Julia: Drips into their lives?

Dante: The key word is drip, or water.

**_Chapter 26: A Link of The Past 2; The Return of Time_**

* * *

Morning rises up over Athens. Cassandra opens her eyes and looks down, seeing Link right beside her. Like she was yesterday morning, his eyes show residue of tears from crying before. The Athenian brushes his golden locks, admiring him for the peaceful expression he has now.

'He looks so peaceful now… I'm glad he's okay.' She thinks as she looks at him. Cassandra places a kiss on his forehead and lets him sleep in.

Cassandra then walks downstairs, and is surprised to see that no one else is around. 'Huh? Where is everyone?'

"Cassandra, you're up." Rothion says as he enters the living room.

"Rothion, where is everyone?" She asks her brother in law.

"Taki took Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi to go see a special store. Sophitia is upstairs with Pyrrah. Everyone else just left for someplace else." He says.

"Store? You mean the one Link and Taki went to before?" – Cassandra

"I guess. How is the little guy anyway?" – Rothion

"I'm fine." The two turn to the stairs to see Link walking down the steps.

"Link… How are you?" Cassandra asks.

"I'm okay now. Thanks to you." He tells the woman. Cassandra looks into his eyes to check for signs of lying, and finds he really means it. "I had so much sadness locked away inside of me when I last left Zelda to Ganondorf. I didn't go back to check, and I assumed he did away with her. It was only natural. So I hid my pain away and decided to search for Soul Edge, and lure Ganondorf to me to get revenge.

"And thanks to you I was able to open my heart again. You supported me when I didn't realize it and you were always there for me. Thank you, Cassandra." – Link

"It's okay Link. That's what people in love do." Cassandra says as she walks towards him. She bends down and embraces him in a hug. "I will always love you."

Rothion watches the sweet moment displayed between them. It reminds him of the time he met Sophitia. "Young love is always nice to see."

With The Others…

"I'm telling you it's right here!" Taki says as she touches the air. She is back where the Swift Edge store is, but unfortunately there's nothing there for her to touch.

"If he really was Master Edge Master, then there's a chance he might have moved when he was found out. He's always been a mystery to me." Kilik says, holding his chin as he thinks about the old man.

"So we have more weirdoes showing up?" – Maxi

"Maxi, Edge Master isn't weird. He's just strange." Kilik argues.

"It's the same thing." Xianghua says to her.

"Just who is strange, Kilik?" Kilik turns around and spots his master standing behind him. The guy then whacks him on the side of his head.

"Ow! Master!" – Kilik

"You! Where's your store?" Taki questions him.

"That's not important. What is right now is what will happen to the Hylian." – Edge Master

Elsewhere…

Link and Cassandra walk together through town. The first thing on their minds would be going to find the others, and seeing this Edge Master. After Link mentions the Triforce of Wisdom would remove the spell on the Master Sword, Cassandra seem to have become interested in speaking with him.

"What do you know about this Edge guy?" Cassandra asks him.

"Not much. He's just an old guy who knows a little about Hyrule and me. I wonder… How does he know about my language and culture?" Link begins to think about this guy.

"We'll know when we find him." – Cassandra

As they walk, Link notices someone walking along a path. It's a beautiful blond woman wearing a lush pink kimono and uchikake. Her kimono seems to expose the top part of her cleavage and a little legroom, and she holds an oilpaper umbrella in her hands. Link seems to have an interest in her, for reasons other than her outfit.

"That woman." Link says to himself as he looks at the woman.

"Who?" Cassandra notices the woman and narrows her eyes, turning Link away from her. "Link, just because you're a kid now doesn't mean I won't hit you if you start checking out other girls."

"No, it's not that. I think I've seen her before." He tells her. "She looks like this woman I met in Japan."

"Is that so?" Cassandra takes a closer look at her. She could see she isn't Japanese, despite her attire. It's easy to tell since she has blond hair, and you can't find that in any other part of the world except Europe. "Now that I look at her…"

Link walks towards the woman, prepares to speak with her, but she heads into a shop, and disappears from him. He would have gone after her, but he hears someone call out to him.

"Link!" He turns to the right and sees Talim calling for him. Ignoring the woman for the moment he heads towards them. The Japanese woman sees the boy run off, and could only think about a person who looks like him.

'Was that Link…' The woman watches the boy leave, her mind thinking of a certain someone.

"Link!" Link and Cassandra meet with Talim. Behind her is Yun-Seong carrying an old man. "Yun-Seong and I met this guy close by that says he knows something about Soul Edge."

"He does?" Link asks; his attention grasped when he looks at the two girls.

"He even says there's a shard there." Talim states. "I can sense where it's coming from as well."

"Well, I guess there's a start. We don't have a reason to keep them, so destroying the shards for now will just have to do." Link says as he tightens his belt.

"Thank you, young ones." The old man says.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Yun-Seong? Go take him to the hospital! We'll go check this out." Cassandra says to him as they prepare to leave.

"Shouldn't we get the others? I mean, if there is a shard there the chance someone might use them is very possible." Link states, knowing the dangers of Soul Edge.

"I'm sure Taki and the others can sense it. But just in case, Yun-Seong can tell them of what's going to happen." Cassandra tells him. The three of them head towards the source of the Soul Edge shard, using Talim as their lead. She seems to be able to sense energy farther away than they can.

As they pass the city's outer limits, Yun-Seong reaches the hospital. "Okay, old guy! We're almost inside!"

Before he could reach the door, the man explodes into dust. Yun-Seong quickly backs away from his remains in shock. "What the? Why did he turn to dust?"

Elsewhere…

"Hello? Link?" Taki calls out as she enters Sophitia's home. Behind her is the trio of Maxi, Kilik and Xianghua, who remain silent. For some reason, the whole house seems to be quiet, relatively too quiet. "Hello?"

"Sophitia? Rothion? Cassandra?" Kilik calls out, hoping to get an answer.

Taki immediately checks the home for damage, blood, any sign of a battle having taken place here. Upon entering the kitchen she sees Rothion lying unconscious on the ground. "Rothion!"

She rushes to his side and turns him over, checking his body for signs of life. Luckily his wounds aren't that serious, and his life isn't in any sort of danger. As Taki helps him, he begins to open his eyes. "T-Taki… Taki!"

"Rothion, what happened? Did someone hurt you?" She asks him. She couldn't sense any demonic energy around the house. Kilik and the others come in as well.

"Taki, it was horrible. A man covered in white showed up and attacked me. He…" He pauses for a moment and thinks, and becomes shocked. "Sophitia! Where is she?"

"Kilik, Xianghua, go check upstairs!" As per her orders the two head up the stairs to search out the mother.

Upstairs the couple looks around in search of Sophitia, but when they reach the children's room they find the window has been blown open. Pyrrah and Patroklos, even Sophitia, are gone. Seung Mina is out cold, having taken a nap to get over the pain of her wounds.

They head downstairs to where Taki and Rothion are, and painfully give them the bad news of Sophitia, Pyrrah and Patroklos' disappearance.

"That can't be… How could he have done this?" Rothion begins to grow fearful of what could possibly happen to his children or even his wife.

"We'll find them, don't worry." Taki reassures him, hoping to calm the man. Being a friend to Sophitia she owes it to him to save her.

"But where do we begin? If this was a kidnapping they would atleast leave a note." Kilik says.

"We could begin by regrouping. I'm sure all of us can accomplish something better together." Xianghua tells the others.

"Well then let's go! We can't do crap if we're stuck here!" Maxi heads out the door as he says this.

Taki grabs hold of Maxi by the shoulder, saying, "You stay here with Xianghua and Kilik. If there's a chance he may return, you'll need the three of you together."

"Where do you get off telling me what to do?" Before Maxi could answer, Taki vanishes, heading into the city. A shadow looms over him.

With Siegfried…

The owner of Soul Calibur is sitting by a riverbank far away from town, glancing at the crystal blade before him. He seems to be trying to meditate and reach the spirit inside of the purity sword. "Soul Calibur, Claire, what are you truly after? Why me?"

He receives no answer. All he could hear is silence. "I see. I guess things aren't as easy as I thought."

As Siegfried reaches out for the blade, something comes flying towards him. He turns around quickly the moment he senses it and swings Soul Calibur to block it, repelling the attack. A wave of energy deflects off of Soul Calibur and lands into the river, exploding and causing water to rain down. "Who's there?"

"How unfortunate! I was hoping to kill you in that one strike!" A voice speaks. Siegfried looks ahead to see his opponent; a man dressed as a noble of high authority. He has a black top hat and cape, with a big, obvious mustache. "Oh well. This will have to do."

"Who the hell are you? Another servant of Inferno?" Siegfried holds Soul Calibur up and faces his new opponent.

"That's right! My name is Sanyo the trick artist! I'm here to keep you distracted as per Inferno's orders! The pay isn't good, but I can always steal something better." He charges at Siegfried and clashes blades with him. His weapons are a set of fist knives.

"So you're after Soul Edge too! I won't let you move on with your plans!" Siegfried pushes him back and swings down at him.

Sanyo spins out of the way and kicks his sword to the other side. Since it's rather big it was easy for him to do, and it's easier for him to duck under and escape the huge blade.

"They're already set in motion. Besides, your friends are all distracted with their own problems, and the elf boy will soon die by the aquatic monster." – Sanyo

"What?" – Siegfried

"I don't know how that monster got here or why, but in the end it's perfect for dealing with him." He says to the knight, kicking him in the chest.

Siegfried splashes into the water from the strike, drenched and angry. He uses Soul Calibur to stand, and prepares to face him. "Then I better finish this up quick."

In Town…

An explosion goes off in town, gathering the attention of everyone in sight. In the center of it lies a man with a wolf head. He howls, scaring away the people around him. Some soldiers who were around attempt to attack him, but a second wave of energy blasts them away.

This attack comes from a man with long red hair and glowing purple/blue eyes. His clothing consists of that from the Japanese army and he holds a giant cutting blade found mostly in Japan. He laughs as he watches the soldiers twitch and suffer from his attack. "After what Aeon did we need to do a flashy job so Taki and her group show."

Ninja stars come flying towards the man, but he quickly jumps away and avoids them. Right on time, Taki leaps down from a building and faces them both. "Looking for me?"

The man chuckles and then says, "That was quick. Are you sure you wish to fight me alone?"

"I'm more than enough for you, Gel-O-Fury!" Taki takes hold of both blades and prepares to face this man in battle.

The wolf man turns to Gel-O-Fury in surprise. "That's right, Auguste. She and I know each other. It's such a long and juicy history. I'm surprised she discovered who I was so easily."

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize that demon energy leaking from your body?" As Taki speaks, Gel-O-Fury raises his sword up.

"I figured not. Why don't you have a taste for old times sake?" He swings and releases a burst of energy towards her. Taki runs to the side of a building to avoid it, but Auguste comes before her and kicks her in the stomach. She flips and lands on her feet, right as another stream of energy comes towards her.

Suddenly, Mitsurugi lands before her and stabs his katana into the ground, splitting the path of the attack two ways. "Mitsurugi?"

"It's like I said before, you aren't going to die by anyone but me! Even if I have to save your sorry ass I will make sure you die by my hands!" He tells her, pulling his sword up.

"I see." Taki stands back up and draws Rekkimaru.

"I see you've brought a samurai with you. Oh well. For now we just have to stall." Gel-O-Fury hoists his weapon onto his shoulder and runs towards them. Auguste follows by his side.

"Stall? What for?" – Taki

"Who cares? Let's just beat the information out of them." Mitsurugi charges Gel-O-Fury, crossing blades with him. Taki competes in a contest of speed with Auguste.

"Raphael should have already sent the water monster on the target. All I need to do is play with you kids for a while." Gel-O-Fury pushes Mitsurugi back and swings down at him.

He blocks by lifting his sword up, trying to match power with power. Gel-O-Fury kicks the samurai back and swings diagonally at the samurai.

"That won't work on me!" Mitsurugi charges electricity around his sword and swings, releasing the energy gathered to send Gel-O-Fury flying into a building. He rises from the rubble extorting as much energy as it has. "Taki, you know this guy right? What's up with him?"

Taki ducks underneath Auguste's blade and sweep kicks him. She then jumps back to Mitsurugi and says to him, "Gel-O-Fury is a demon spirit that possesses people. It was sealed in my clan home a long time ago, but for some reason it was released and possessed my master. I believe Soul Edge had something to do with its appearance."

"Demon, huh? You know, I never did think demon hunting would be so challenging. It's actually kind of fun!" Mitsurugi says as he sheathes his blade. He then prepares a battoujitsu stance.

"Take this seriously! They're obviously keeping us busy while they go after… Link!" Taki suddenly realizes the truth behind this attack, realizing they could only be after one thing. If Soul Edge is involved, then they're not doubt trying to kill Link.

"So you've figured it out… Too bad!" The demon spirit jabs at them. The air forcefully moves to strike, forcing Mitsurugi to act. He draws his sword and releases a stream of lightning to counter.

This attack fails and they both crash into a building. Mitsurugi is the first to crawl out, and says, "Normally I wouldn't care about somebody I don't know, but now I have to know… Just who exactly is that Link kid? Can he really be such a big deal?"

"Link use to be an adult, but Inferno casted a spell on him to make him a child. These guys want to kill him because he is that much of a threat to Soul Edge." She tells him. Taki rises up from the rubble as well, gripping her injured right arm. "That's the only reason they would go to such lengths to keep us from helping him."

"So he's that strong huh? Interesting," Mitsurugi gains a hungry look in his eyes as he imagines the strength Link may truly possess. Surely he could be strong enough to satisfy him.

"Don't even think about it. You won't get the chance." Taki prepares a jutsu as Mitsurugi gathers energy to his sword.

With Link, Talim And Cassandra…

Link, Cassandra and Talim head towards the town the old man said. As they approach it they see that the town is currently normal, without a sign of battle to it. Link says, "Huh?"

"I thought he said a shard of Soul Edge is close by. What's all this then?" Cassandra turns to Talim as she says that last line.

"No, I still sense it. It's close…" Talim gasps and quickly turns around. Sensing the shard as well, both Link and Cassandra turn to see their target.

Raphael stands behind the three warriors, grinning deviously. "Hello again, elf."

"Raphael," Says Link as he glares at him.

"Was he the Soul Edge power I sensed?" – Talim

"No doubt! That old man was right after all." – Cassandra

"You mean the corpse?" All three of them back away in surprise. Raphael then says, "That was nothing more than a corpse Zasalamel reanimated with his magic to trick you fools into coming. I had high hopes for Gel-O-Fury and my subordinate to kill you, but this will have to do."

Raphael then snaps his fingers, and just as quick as they realize, water rises up within the town. The whole place is flooded, and even captures Link, Cassandra and Talim. They get sucked into the town water. Luckily the three of them are good swimmers, so they reach a dry spot on top of a home.

Link shouts, "Raphael! What does this prove? Is this another one of your stupid attempts to kill me?"

"Of course. But, I won't be doing it this time." Raphael points at the center of the wet town. An orange nucleus-like blob rises up from the depths of the water. The water around it stands up and holds up two figures.

Squinting, Link and Cassandra could see both Patroklos and Pyrrah. Their aunt shouts in horror, "Pyrrah! Patroklos!"

"Aunt Cassie!" They try to call out, but being submerged in water all that could come out was a bunch of glug sounds.

Raphael laughs, and says, "That blob thing is called Morpha. It's a monster that comes from your world that can control all forms of water. Unfortunately for you, those two children are caught in its power. If you plan on saving them then you need to defeat it.

"But, I wonder just how much you can do when you're a child…" Raphael laughs as he views Link's predicament.

"I really hate that guy." Link complains as he digs into his bag. He hands Cassandra the Master Sword and its sheath. "Here."

"Huh?" – Cassandra

"You can use magic right? You should be able to properly wield this weapon to fight with." He says to her.

"But, I can't hold your weapon! The last time I did I couldn't fight against that eye thing!" She tells him.

"It's okay. All you have to do is use it to defend us." Link says as he pulls out the clawshot. "Talim, help me out here in using this."

"Eh? How can I help?" Talim asks.

Morpha begins to swirl around in the water, and some rises up before the heroes. Link says, "I'm too light to pull the kids in. I need your added weight to help me."

"Will we be enough?" – Talim

"No matter how you look at it, it looks around our size. We should be fine." Link holds out the clawshot, allowing Talim to grasp it as well. They both aim at Patroklos.

Morpha shoots the towering water at them. Link presses down on the button, allowing it to shoot forward and grab hold of the boy's left foot. It would be the only place they could aim that wouldn't harm the child so much. As the water prepares to hit them, Cassandra swings at it, scattering it away.

"A bit of a cheat I believe." Raphael says as he watches them retrieve the boy.

Patroklos falls into Cassandra's arms. "Patroklos, are you okay? Where's Sophitia?"

The boy coughs up water as he tries to speak. "A-Aunt Cassie…"

"Now for Pyrrah!" Link prepares to shoot at the girl.

Water shoots out from behind them and splashes the group. As it recedes into the sea around them, Link gets caught in it. Cassandra spits out water and shouts, "Link!"

"I'm fine! Save Pyrrah!" Link tells her. Morpha forces the water around Link to squeeze onto him tightly. He tries to swim to the surface, but the water continues to push him down.

"He won't survive at this rate!" – Talim

"Link!" Cassandra takes the clawshot and aims at him. Water rises up and strikes her, causing the girl to fall onto Talim.

"Uncle Link!" – Patroklos

"I see things are going as planned," Says Raphael. He laughs while watching their predicament. "It seems I didn't need you at all, Sophitia."

Sophitia walks out from behind him, her hands tied behind her back. Beside her is Zasalamel, who holds the other end of the rope that binds her. Tears continue to flow through her eyes as she looks up ahead, watching the horrid scene before her. 'Pyrrah, Patroklos, Cassandra, I'm sorry.'

"If this goes well we might not even need to use the backup plan." Zasalamel says to Raphael.

Link continues to struggle against the water, but is failing miserably. Cassandra tries desperately to aim properly, but a stream of water continues to get in the way. The last one steals the clawshot from her hands. "No!"

"What are we going to do? We can't get into the water, and we can't draw them out." Talim bites down on her bottom lip as she realizes her uselessness. "There has to be a way though."

Link soon begins to lose consciousness along with the last of his air. Gripping the Master Sword, Cassandra holds it in the air. "Don't worry, I'll save you. You've done so much for me before, so I'll do the same for you! I'll make sure you we all go home alive, Link! I won't let you die!"

On the back of Cassandra's left hand, a glowing triangular mark appears. She looks down at it and gasps, as light releases from her body and the sword. "This is…"

* * *

Dante: What? What happens next?

Julia: Find out next time.

Dante: What? No! I wanna know now!

Julia: Fine. Transcending…

Dante: JUST TELL ME!

Julia: Dante, where do you get off telling me what to do? You, the Sonic Knight Tau, to me, the Crimson Knight Beta?

Dante:…Sorry.

Julia: Next time, something good happens. But then another bad thing happens, and they're all forced to come up with a plan.


	27. A Link of The Past 3

_**A Love Forged By Blades And Souls**_

Disclaimer: I do not own these games, or Spawn.

Julia: Is anyone else coming in this story?

Dante: …Nightmare? Rock maybe? Princess Hilde?

Julia: Meh, who knows? Let's get going.

_**Chapter 27: A Link of The Past; The Trap**_

Talim, Patroklos, and Link witness Cassandra's amazing display of magic. The light forces the Soul Edge shard out from the power source of the Master Sword, reducing it to dust. It also releases dark energy from around the blade. The energy source shines brightly, indicating that it has finally become free of the curse.

"That magic… It's just like…" Zasalamel quickly turns to Raphael, who saw what happened as well.

"It would seem that woman is more trouble than I thought." – Raphael

"Cassandra, you," Whispers Sophitia, who admires her sister's power.

"Link! Here!" Cassandra throws the Master Sword towards Link. It passes through the water and stabs into the ground, blowing away the liquid. Link and Pyrrah are free and land before the blade.

'It's back to normal…' "Thanks Cassandra!" Link shouts as he runs towards the sword. The water comes towards them to finish what it started.

Link grabs hold of the blade's hilt tightly, having raised his hands due to his current height. Dark energy comes out from his body as he pulls it up from the ground and is overshadowed by light. The water covers the area they stand, but luckily Link leaps from the sea with Pyrrah in his arms.

Link lands before Cassandra and Talim. "Thanks Cassandra. You really saved me."

"Link! I'm glad you're…" Cassandra pauses when she sees Link. After the spell has been destroyed, Link is now a full adult. But as he grew the clothes on him got ripped, exposing his nude body to both woman.

"What?" A confused Link looks at the two women in shock. Talim seems to have passed out and Cassandra is red in the face, even has a nosebleed. He looks down and realizes what happened. "Oh yeah."

Morpha sends a tidal wave of water towards them, crashing the five of them into the building they stand in. From the sidelines Raphael tightens his grip angrily. "He's back. What now?"

"We'll have to go with our backup plan." – Zasalamel

Inside the building Link digs through his bag while Cassandra makes Talim and the kids face away from the Hylian. He pulls out a blue version of the outfit that he had before turning into a kid and begins to put them on. "Is it safe to look?"

"You can look now." Link tells her. Cassandra turns around and sees that he is properly dressed. "Wake up Talim. I'll finish off that water thing."

"But how? You don't have that weapon! We can't pull it out of the water!" Cassandra reminds him.

"Don't worry, I have an idea." He says to her, giving off a smirk. Link jumps up to the ceiling they busted through, drawing the Master Sword. He touches his boots and materializes metal around it. With this added weight he jumps into the water, sinking underneath. 'The Zora Tunic gives me immunity to deep-water pressures, and I can breathe underneath it too. The Iron Boots work well because that water thing can't lift something as heavy as these.'

'Link, what are you doing?' Cassandra watches from a cracking window as Link walks underwater like nothing is wrong with that. Once again she's amazed by the weird power of Link's items.

Talim wakes up at that moment. "What happened? I saw Link, and then everything went black."

"You didn't see anything. It's none of your business." Cassandra tells her, blushing herself as she remembers what happened. "Anyway, Link's back to an adult and he's taking on that water monster by himself. We need to get to the top to support him."

"He's back to normal?" – Talim

Morpha surrounds Link in a whirlpool. Although with his boots on they have no effect. He simply walks out. "That doesn't work on me! Shooting Stardust!"

Link swings his sword and releases a slash of energy. This spreads the water out and isolates the nucleus. He then aims his Clawshot and fires, pushing the main part of their enemy away from the sea. "Now!"

Cassandra manages to make it out to the building's ceiling and leaps towards the nucleus. From some reason her jumping ability and speed have increased more than before. Something like this is nothing to her. 'What happened? How come I can move so well? Is it because of that light?'

Despite this on her mind Cassandra wields her sword and cuts the nucleus in half. This strike causes it to explode into particles of water. The water summoned by Morpha evaporates and dissolves. Talim, while holding Pyrrah, walks out from the building's door with Patroklos beside him. "We did it!"

"That was easier than I thought. Good job Cassandra." Link says as he puts away his weapons.

"Thanks Link," Replies the Athenian, a little blush appearing on her face.

Link's eyes shoot up and stare behind Cassandra. He spots Raphael standing behind her, and then watches as he hits her in the back of the head. Link removes the Iron Boots for his normal ones and leaps into the air to attack him. Zasalamel jabs him in the stomach and knocks him away.

"You two!" He growls, glaring at the man.

"That was a horrible wrench thrown into our plans. I had no idea that woman had such powerful magic." Raphael says as he lifts Cassandra over his shoulder. "But this works as well. We'll just have to continue with our other plan."

"Give Cassandra back!" Link shouts. Zasalamel returns to Sophitia and lifts her by the collar of her shirt. "Sophitia?"

"If you wish to save the lives of these two women, you will come to the mountains along with Siegfried, tomorrow at dawn. You will bring Soul Calibur and the Master Sword with you, and that's all. If we find anyone else with you the hostages die." Zasalamel tells Link. He then extends his cape to cover himself and Raphael, and disappears along with them.

"Get back here!" Link reaches the spot they disappeared from and searches for them, only to find no traces. "Cassandra!"

"They took her." Talim says as she leaves the building with Pyrrah in her arms.

"But why? Why would they capture Mommy and Aunt Cassie?" Patroklos questions, fear present in his voice.

"Why else? They need a hostage to make sure we would do what they say. Taking Cassandra is the most effective method." Link tells her as he walks towards Talim. He bows before Patroklos, who is about to cry at this point, and says to him, "Don't worry. I won't let either of them die."

Patroklos sniffs in and says, "Thanks, Uncle Link."

"Let's go find the others. They may need our help." – Link

"Right." Talim follows Link back to Sophitia's home. On the way she thinks, 'But if they only needed a hostage then they would have just used Sophitia. Why would they take Cassandra too?'

Talim then gasps and remembers that Cassandra is the one who freed Link from his child form, and the sword from Soul Edge and the curse. There's no way they wouldn't notice that. Could they be after Cassandra this time?

Back In Athens…

Taki and Mitsurugi are both thrown through the air, crashing into a building once more. Gel-O-Fury comes towards them with his weapon ready, but when he swings down, something clangs onto his weapon. He looks down and sees a woman dressed in a pink kimono. She seems to be blocking his weapon using a hidden blade within her oilpaper umbrella.

"Just what do you think you're doing, woman?" Gel-O-Fury questions her.

"What I want doesn't concern you, demon!" The woman then pushes him back and sheaths her sword. In a flash she draws it, making a quick slash at Gel-O-Fury; nothing happens for the moment.

With him back for a while she turns back to see Taki and Mitsurugi ready and able. They leap forward and strike Gel-O-Fury in the chest, sending him flying. He falls onto Auguste.

"Thanks for your help." Taki says to her.

"No problem. I have something to ask of you, and I can't do that if you're dead." She says to the ninja. "You mentioned someone named Link. Is he here?"

"He may be. These two are trying to keep us away from the guy." Mitsurugi tells her. "Ya know him?"

"Yeah. He's a good friend I met months ago. I was hoping to see him again." She tells them. The two rivals notice the small blush on her face when she mentioned seeing Link again. "My name's Setsuka. Nice to meet you."

"What?" Gel-O-Fury says, placing a hand to his right ear. He remains silent for a while, but Taki realizes what's going on. "Abort mission, huh? What a bunch of weaklings. Let's go."

Setsuka takes this chance to sheath her weapon, making a clang noise. The moment the noise resonates, Gel-O-Fury's head flies off. The demon man falls to the ground, and the spirit inside is soon released. Gel-O-Fury flies away with Auguste, surprised at being killed that easily.

'Damn! I can't believe I was defeated like that, and by someone not Taki! I need a better hostage, someone filled with hate.' – Gel-O-Fury

Taki chases after them, but they seem to have escaped her. "They're gone."

"Heh! Guess their plan was a huge failure!" Mitsurugi states, sheathing his katana away.

"I'm worried about the others. Let's go check on them. Setsuka and I will seek out Link. Mitsurugi," When she says his name, Setsuka's eyes flare up. "Can I trust you to go see if Maxi and the others are safe at Sophitia's?"

"You must really worry about that pirate, huh?" Mitsurugi heads to the mother's home, where they all freeload. Setsuka watches as he leaves, until she couldn't see him anymore.

"Let's go. Link may be injured." Taki says, hiding the blush on her face. The two beautiful women then head to the outskirts of the city.

"That man back there, his name is Mitsurugi, right? As in, Mitsurugi Heishiro?" Setsuka asks her, a bit of anger rising in her voice.

"Yeah. He did say his first name was Heishiro. Do you know him?" – Taki

"No, but I could never forget the name of the man who killed my master." Taki quickly turns her head to look at Setsuka, and spots the hateful look in her eyes.

"What?" – Taki

"Taki! Hey!" The two women look ahead to see Link, Talim and Patroklos running up to them. Talim is holding Pyrrah in her arms.

"Link! He's an adult now!" Taki sighs in relief, seeing Link back to normal.

"Link, it really is you." Setsuka says, blushing as he approaches them.

"We have a problem! Raphael and Zasalamel captured Cassandra and Sophitia…" Link pauses when he realizes Setsuka is here. "Setsuka?"

"Link. Long time no see, nakama." Setsuka says to him. She reaches out and hugs Link, catching everyone by surprise. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Setsuka let go! I thought we went over this!" Link says to her, trying to shirk out of the hug.

'What kind of nakama were they?' – Taki

With Maxi and The Others…

Kilik gets pounded into the grassy field surrounding Sophitia's home. In the air Voldo twirls towards him, his razor blades prepared to slice through him. The bo master raises his weapon and blocks Voldo. Maxi and Xianghua rush towards the weirdo and prepare to strike him.

Voldo lands off of Kilik's staff and sweeps both Xianghua and Maxi off their feet. They had to roll over to the side to avoid Voldo's blades when he bends backwards, and performs a crabwalk. Voldo then flips to his feet and hisses.

Maxi punches the dirt, complaining, "Damn it! Why the hell can't we put a dent into this stupid monkey spider?"

"Don't you mean spider monkey?" – Xianghua

"Whatever! I figured this would be a piece of cake fighting against a blind/death guy!" – Maxi

"I once fought against a blind swordsman, but he was so capable because he could hear and sense where I was. Is this thing relying only on sensing us?" Kilik ponders as he stands up.

Voldo leaps up into the air, and is caught by a pterodactyl bird thing. It flies away, leaving the trio alone. Maxi says, "What the hell was that?"

"Why did that guy come here in the first place? Just to fight us?" Xianghua asks, aiming her question at no one in particular.

"Who knows? We better find the others." – Kilik

With Siegfried…

"Is that the best you got?" Sanyo asks Siegfried as he stands on dry land. A wet and muddy Siegfried stands back up to face his opponent.

"Not yet. I've still got some fight in me." Siegfried swings Soul Calibur, releasing a stream of energy. Sanyo leaps high into the air to avoid it.

"Is this really all you can…" Before he could finish, a smaller shockwave of light strikes Sanyo, knocking him out of the sky. Siegfried hoists Soul Calibur over his shoulder and sighs.

"What an annoying fellow." Siegfried watches as Sanyo tries to stand to his feet. Blood leaks out from the side of his head and abdomen.

"You…" Zasalamel appears before Sanyo, standing between him and Siegfried. Siegfried tenses when the enigmatic man shows up, knowing he won't be a pushover like Sanyo. "Zasalamel!"

"Head back to base. We're aborting the mission." Zasalamel tells the man.

"…Fine." Sanyo reluctantly agrees.

"Wait! Where's Link?" – Siegfried

"He's alive at the moment, but now something worse will happen soon." Zasalamel vanishes along with Sanyo.

"They're gone." Siegfried sheathes Soul Calibur on his back. 'What could he be planning this time?'

By nightfall everyone returns to Sophitia and Rothion's house. With Pyrrah and Patroklos sleeping, the former of which is still under the effects of the curse, everyone else is downstairs in the living room thinking about what to do. Setsuka, although, is outside eavesdropping on the conversation.

"So he only wants Link and Siegfried to come, right?" Taki asks. The two warriors nod in agreement.

"It's bad, but it looks like we have no choice." Link says as he grasps the top of his head.

"There has to be another way! This is no doubt a trap!" Xianghua says to him.

"It is a trap. That's the only reason they can't do this." Kilik tells her.

"But they said they would kill Sophitia and Cassandra if they didn't show." Talim adds. She then looks down as sad as one can be, before saying, "What will we do?"

"You guys don't have to do anything. It's all up to us. If we went we would have nothing to trade for their lives. They only want us dead." Link says to her.

"How can you just say that? If you guys mess up they'll harm Cassandra and Sophitia!" – Talim

"Then we need to have a plan. Anything, Taki?" Siegfried asks the ninja.

"No. Unfortunately I don't. All I can think of is distracting them while one of us saves the hostages. But what can we do to do that?" – Taki

"And if they try to fight them they'll only kill Cassandra and miss Sophitia." – Talim

"If we die they'll steal our weapons. Without them no one will be able to stand up to Soul Edge. That's the only reason they would go through such a thing as blackmail… If worse comes to worse, we may have to do whatever we can." – Siegfried

Mitsurugi sighs, saying, "Hostage situations are always a pain. Well, it's not important."

"What? How can you say that?" – Rothion

"Mitsurugi, I'm not asking you to care about Sophitia-tachi, but I can't let them die. If we don't save them, it'll be the same as if we killed them, and I know the pain of killing someone you care for." Taki says to him.

Link remains quiet as he listens to the others. Rothion turns to him and asks, "Link, do you have any idea of what to do?"

"Well, I have an idea… But it's kind of tricky. Naw, it'll work!" Link says, drawing everyone to face him.

* * *

Julia: Before the chapter ends, we have a special thing for you: info on Link's items.

Dante: Back when Link told Zelda of the items he had, he was actually telling her of the items he knew he would need. There are other items in there that he left without thinking.

Julia: The main items inside Link's bag right now are the Hero Bow, an archery item he upgraded his Fairy Bow from when he broke it one day, a quiver that can hold 40 arrows, three arrows, the Claw Shot, an upgrade to the Longshot, the Megaton Hammer, the Ocarina of Time, a broken boomerang, the Mirror Shield, the Goron Tunic that allows him to resist extreme heat, the Zora Tunic that lets him break underwater and survive low depths, a bag that carries various bombs, three normal bombs, one underwater bombs, two mini tag bombs, Iron Boots, Hover Boots, three Rupees, and the Magic Armor suit.

Julia: Before we leave, we also have to tell you of the Magic Armor he possesses; after the event with Majora's Mask, the Royal Knights, a special class of the knights of Hyrule, decided they would need a little extra power in battle, in the chance that a problem like Ganondorf shows up again. After all, they couldn't rely on Link forever. So they go to Zelda who goes to the family blacksmith. There they forge the Magic Armor, one that would increase a Hylian's magic, strength, speed, and abilities. Unfortunately the first one was a little unstable, but would prove to be the strongest one, made specifically for Link and his Triforce. When he normally wears it, he becomes encased in Royal Armor, and using the Triforce afterwards could through his magic into a loop. Using it after digging into the power of the Triforce, the armor will upgrade along with his tunic.

Dante: Kokori Tunic will form Super Royal Armor. The added features are green replacing the red and a green cape is stitched on. It increases his speed and power, balancing them out so he doesn't have to abuse either, and his magic power grows exponentially. He doesn't know if Goron Tunic or Zora Tunic will have a similar effect since he wears the Kokori Tunic all the time.


	28. The Purity of Crystals

_**A Love Forged By Blades And Souls**_

Disclaimer: Don't even bother asking.

Julia: I miss already.

Dante: It would be so much easier if the manga companies could have at least bought the website.

Julia: Don't be stupid. That would only make things worse. Freedom is a privilege that belongs to everyone on the Internet, although there are some restrictions…

Dante: Let's not go into details.

Julia: Anyway, in this chapter, Link and Siegfried confront Raphael and Zasalamel.

_**Chapter 28: The Purity of Crystals**_

* * *

Dawn breaks into the mid-eastern sky.

Close by Athens stand a set of healthy mountains. It's the perfect sight for one to go mountain climbing or have a romantic adventure together. But for the moment, that can't be possible.

At an opening near the base of the mountains, a large group of monsters and humans are bundled together. The monsters consist of Lizardmen, the ones just like the Lizalfos, Dinolfos, Dodongos, fire-breathing dinosaurs that live in Hyrule on Death Mountain, and the skeletal warriors Stalfos. The humans consist of the dark skinned enigmatic man Zasalamel, and the cursed nobleman Raphael Sorel.

Guarded by two Lizalfos are the sisters Alexandra, Sophitia and Cassandra. They both are tied back to back on the ground, unable to move or else death awaits them.

"Cassandra, I'm sorry I dragged you into this. If only I hadn't let my guard down… If only I was stronger…" Sophitia cries to her younger sister.

"It's okay, sis. You gave your life up to save your children. That takes a lot of strength. I promise you, we'll get out of this." She says to her, helping her sister get through this.

"Be quiet." Zasalamel tells the women.

By the time the sun finally reaches 60 degrees into the sky, Raphael notices two figures coming towards them slowly. The first person is dressed in green with pointy ears. On his back is the purple hilted Master Sword behind a red shield with a crystal clear appearance, sort of like a mirror. Etched into the mirror is a crescent moon. The other person is armored on the upper half of his body while wearing green pants and shoes that match. On his back rests the crystal blade Soul Calibur.

Cassandra and Sophitia look out to see who they are, and rest at ease to see they are both Link and Siegfried. They stop to face the group before them. Zasalamel moves from the women and faces the two warriors. Raphael says, "So, they're both here. As we agreed they're alone."

"I don't sense anyone else around." Zasalamel says.

"Link! Knight guy!" Cassandra calls out to them.

"I'm surprised you two didn't run away." – Raphael

"Release the hostages!" Link demands.

"Of course. But, that depends on what you do." – Zasalamel

"What? We brought the swords like you asked! Now let them go!" Link says to him.

Raphael begins to chuckle, and then bursts out laughing. "Did you really think we would just hand over the hostages? We don't even need them anymore, now that you're here," Says the Nobleman, as some of the monsters begin to surround them.

"We can kill these hostages anytime we feel, but we may hold back if you give up your lives." Zasalamel adds, giving a small smirk. The Lizalfos stand before the sisters, placing their swords by their necks.

"Link! Don't fall for this stupid trick! You two don't need to die for our sake!" Cassandra says to him.

"Cassandra…" Link whispers under his breath. He turns to Siegfried, who has remained silent throughout the entire ordeal. An impatient Dinolfos rushes in to strike the redemption knight, aiming for his head.

He draws Soul Calibur and slays it with ease, a cold stare in his eyes. Everyone who sees this is caught by surprise. Raphael's eyebrows rise up in shock. Even Zasalamel looks surprised.

"What?" – Zasalamel

Sophitia gasps in shock when she sees this, and Cassandra's mouth drops in surprise. Link looks down at Soul Calibur, seeing the blood on it from the strike, and turns to Siegfried. "Siegfried!"

The knight silently walks forward, slaying two lizalfos in his way. Raphael shouts, "Inconceivable! Don't you care about the hostages?"

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Link yells at the knight.

Siegfried kills two more lizards and turns to the elf, saying, "Even if we gave our lives up, they would never let the girls go. They would only steal the swords and use the hostages against the others. It's best to just cut our losses and do what we can."

"Siegfried, I never thought you would be such a person…" Sophitia whispers to herself.

"Siegfried Schtuaffin, are you truly serious about his? Don't you wish to redeem yourself for all the deaths you've caused?"

"Those plans don't include me dying for someone else. Only when I have destroyed Soul Edge can I care about other people." Siegfried says to the dark man.

"Even so!" Link runs towards Siegfried and grabs hold of his arms, just after he kills another lizard. "We have to do what they say! Sophitia has a family to take care of, and Cassandra's…"

Siegfried cuts him off by jabbing him in the gut and pushing him to the ground. The knight then turns to Raphael and Zasalamel, saying to Link, "This is exactly why heroes have no place in this world. What did you come to this world for anyway?"

"You bastard…" Link looks up at the knight, his eyes growing with hatred. He digs into his bag and pulls something out.

Siegfried kills two more lizards in his way, moving towards the two. Raphael has had enough, and says, "Oh well. It was a good plan. Kill the women now."

The two Lizalfos prepare their blades. Cassandra and Sophitia brace for their swords to pierce their bodies. That's when a bomb flies through the air, striking Siegfried in the back. An explosion goes off as it hits him, knocking him to the ground. This catches everyone's attention, even the lizards about to kill the sisters.

Link now stands above the knight, fire around his right hand. It disperses, and he says, "If one can't save another person's life, then they can't save the world! You make me wish I never saved you from that stupid fish!"

Siegfried stands back up and turns to face Link, holding Soul Calibur in his hands. "So you're going to stop me? Can you really do that?"

"I've been killing monsters ever since I was a child! A guy like you is no big deal!" Link says to him, drawing the Master Sword and his mirror shield.

Zasalamel turns to the lizards and says, "What are you waiting for? Kill the hostages!"

"Wait, let's see how this goes. Things may become interesting." Raphael says to him.

"I'm surprised in you elf. I had thought you would be above this!" Siegfried swings Soul Calibur, releasing a wave of light at Link. He raises his shield and blocks the attack. The energy is absorbed into the mirror.

"I thought the same for you! Reflect!" Link fires the light back at Siegfried, who rolls out of the way. The light blasts a random Stalfos, scattering it to pieces. Siegfried charges Link while holding his sword into the air. He stabs at the hero, who places the shield behind him. Link then rolls around in that instance and avoids the blade.

He stands back up and leaps at Siegfried, holding his sword with both hands. Siegfried blocks with Soul Calibur and pushes him back, having the most weight on his side. Link makes two vertical swings at him, but he continues to block using his own sword.

Siegfried reaches out and grabs hold of Link, tossing him into the air. Soul Calibur gains a longer blade and let's Siegfried jab at Link while in midair. He spin kicks and knocks the point away, allowing him to counter by using Cosmic Rave. Siegfried gets blasted back and falls to the ground. It returns to normal afterwards as he tries to stand up. They continue clashing blades.

"Link, stop!" Cassandra says to him. A Lizalfos punches her in the face, gathering blood on the first hit.

"Be quiet! This is kind of fun to watch." Raphael tells her.

The two clash their swords together. In this instance Link begins to think, 'There's something up about this sword. I can sense a strong, pure energy coming from it, like the Master Sword. But for some reason, there's another energy coming off it that is just like Soul Edge. What's going on?'

Returning to the fight, Link uses this opportunity to grab Siegfried's left arm and kicks him in the back of his legs. With his weight he falls backwards to the ground. Link lifts his sword up and stabs down at him, but the knight rolls out of the way and sweep kicks the hero. As Link stands back up Siegfried swings Soul Calibur, cutting across the top of his chest.

Link falls back and stabs his sword into the ground, using his right hand, while keeping himself balanced. Siegfried hoists his blade up and swings down at the hero. He makes a quick hop to the side and kicks Siegfried away, having him slide across the ground back to where they were first surrounded. The other monsters have left them so as not to get caught in the fight.

Link charges Siegfried, leaping into the air to use a jump attack. Siegfried charges energy into his blade, and swings at Link the moment he gets close. Being too close, Link is forced to block using the Master Sword, and gets blown away.

'So he kept the energy inside of Soul Calibur instead of firing it, to make sure the Hylian wouldn't reflect it using his shield.' – Zasalamel

"Prepare yourself!" Siegfried says to Link, charging at him while he's still on the ground.

The hero turns around and holds his sword behind his back, having the flat side touch him. Being too close, Siegfried couldn't stop in time. He ends up slashing along the length of the Master Sword, having sparks fly, and becomes vulnerable. Link takes this instance to turn around and stab at Siegfried, releasing Shooting Stardust. The attack breaks off Siegfried's armor, and exposes his clothing underneath.

Damaged in that instance, Siegfried steps back a few feet away from Link. The hero sheathes his sword and pulls out his bow. He then pulls out his three last arrows, stringing one to be aimed at Siegfried. The knight raises Soul Calibur, the two of them standing to face each other.

Zasalamel smirks as he looks at them. He whispers, "So, this charade finally ends."

Link let's the first arrow fly, aiming it at Siegfried. The knight raises his sword up and blocks. Link then fires the second one, transforming it into a light arrow. It strikes Soul Calibur, using so much force it causes Siegfried to release his sword and have it fling into the air.

The elf finally fires the last arrow, using a light arrow once again. In that instance Siegfried grabs hold of Soul Calibur's guard and throws it at Link. Both the arrow and the sword pass by one another. Both weapons strike their targets in the chest; the light arrow strikes Siegfried's heart while the sword stabs Link's chest.

Siegfried grabs the area he was hit, along with the arrow, while Soul Calibur falls from Link, due to its weight, and he grasps his impacted area. A lifeless look appears in their eyes as they look at one another.

Cassandra pales in fear and shouts, "LINK!"

"Siegfried!" – Sophitia

Siegfried falls to the ground backwards, while Link crashes face forward. Their eyes close shut when it happens. Zasalamel sighs and stands, walking slowly towards the dead duo. "So, they both died."

"In the end we've accomplished both of our goals. Now we can continue with our plans." Raphael adds, giving a sinister laugh as he looks at them.

"Link! You're not dead, right? Link!" Cassandra cries, twitching at the sight she sees. She couldn't hold back her tears even as Zasalamel leaves them alone to the lizards and begins to cry.

"Siegfried… Link… I can't believe this happened…" Sophitia says, looking away sad. She was so overwhelmed with grief and sadness that she didn't notice a rock moving towards them. The rock then shoots up into the air.

Link opens his eyes and sits up, scaring back the monsters and Zasalamel away from him. "See? Didn't I tell ya it was a good idea?"

"Yeah." Siegfried answers as he leans up. The arrow looks to still be standing on its own. "I still can't believe this worked so well."

"What?" Raphael turns around to see the two lizards guarding the sisters are dead. They're now far away from the group, with Taki between them. "What just happened?"

"They tricked us." – Zasalamel

"Heh, it's your own damn fault! Did you really believe in such a stupid fight like that?" Link says to the nobleman. Siegfried digs into his clothes and pulls out a crystal amulet. It is the same one Link got from Houseki, and seems to be what protected him from the holy power of the light arrow. "If I remember, tricking your opponents is something you specialized in, Raphael."

Siegfried tosses the shard back to Link, who grabs hold of it. Link digs into his clothes and pulls out a blue scarf. It has the same illuminating feel to it as Soul Calibur. Siegfried then says, "Despite what you said Link and I knew exactly what you were up to, so we set this up in advance. Since Link isn't good at lying I had to do that role myself."

"You fools! Where do you get off tricking me?" Raphael shouts at them, acting rather out of character.

Link snickers a bit and then states, "Because good is dumb."

Taki, Sophitia and Cassandra join up with the two heroes. Cassandra hugs Link while Sophitia says, "Well done guys! You almost had me there."

"Idiots are kind of interesting," Adds Taki, her mind going to Maxi for a moment.

"Even so, that doesn't change the situation." Zasalamel states. The horde of monsters begins to grow and face the warriors. "Like we said before, we don't need those hostages! Now that we have all five of you together we can eliminate you now!"

"That's what you think!" Suddenly, a large sheet of cloak rises up from behind them, revealing the others ready for battle; Maxi, Xianghua, Kilik, Seung Mina, Mitsurugi, Talim, Setsuka, and Yun-Seong. Raphael grits his teeth in anger. Maxi then shouts, "You've got the thirteen of us to deal with."

Link turns his head to the others, smiling while saying, "Nice of you to show up. Taki's ninja items really do work well."

"Of course they do. I'm an elite." Taki says to him. Kilik and Taki hand Sophitia and Cassandra their weapons.

"Link, let's finish this up. We may need to confront this Zasalamel person." Siegfried tells Link.

"Yeah. He definitely knows more than he let's on." Link responds silently to the knight. Siegfried grabs Soul Calibur and raises it over his shoulder. Link draws the Master Sword and Mirror Shield. Everyone else brandishes their weapons too.

"Your fooling around ends today!" Zasalamel holds his hand out, and commands the monsters to attack. Two Dodongos spit fireballs at them.

Link reflects one back with the Mirror Shield, while Mitsurugi cuts the second down. They all charge at the army of monsters, prepared to show their own monstrous strength.

Sophitia and Setsuka team up to handle a group of Dinolfos, Dodongos and Stalfos by themselves. Things go well before they realize the Stalfos' scattered remains reformed. Sophitia complains, "How are they able to come back to life?"

Suddenly, Mitsurugi and Taki come dashing in and slash at two of the skeletal warriors, releasing energy blasts to destroy their remains. They then approach the two women, with Taki saying, "When they split apart, there's your chance to destroy their remains. Link told us that's how to keep them away."

"Thanks Taki. It's rather comforting with four of us." Sophitia says to her, and soon they commence their battle.

Seung Mina, Yun-Seong, Cassandra and Talim group together and face a group of Lizardmen and Dinolfos high up on the mountain roads. Cassandra kicks one towards Yun-Seong. "Time for my secret move: Hong Style Prime Strike!"

Yun-Seong kicks the dinosaur in the stomach and does another to send it flying into the air. He then slashes at it several times, before it could reach the ground. "Yeah! Take that!"

"Yun-Seong, doesn't that always make an explosion afterwards?" Talim asks him.

"The what now?" When the monster touches the ground, an explosion goes off that blows Yun-Seong forward into the dirt.

"Idiot." Mina says after she trips one and then performs a guillotine on it. "There's no need to be flashy. Just kill them."

Cassandra stabs a lizard in the stomach, and backs away to avoid a second one coming up to cut her. She punches that one in the face and flips it to the ground, before pulling her sword out from the earlier Lizard man. Before doing a spin kick to its head she shouts, "Thanks for returning it!"

Kilik, Maxi and Xianghua are together, like always, and are doing pretty well too. Kilik slams a Stalfos to the ground using Kali Yuga, and feathers rise up from the ground through the impact. Xianghua sweep kicks one and does a back flip, sending it into the air.

She turns to Kilik and asks, "Where's Maxi?"

"He's up there." Kilik points to a rock formation above them, where Xianghua sees Maxi leaping high from. He looks down at a Stalfos about to attack them.

"Time to test out that new attack I've been working on in private; Rising Dragon of the Zodiac!" Maxi aims his right foot at the bone warrior, soaring down like a rocket, and drop kicks it in the ribs. The monster's entire body shatters and is reduced to dust. The pirate lands before his friends, who help him up.

"Not bad. I wish I had a cool technique to use." Xianghua complains while awe inspired at their moves.

"Don't worry. You're pretty strong yourself." Kilik tells her. She blushes a little, and returns herself to facing the monsters.

Meanwhile, Link and Siegfried have already finished a large number of Stalfos. Only a few Dodongos and Dinolfos remain for them. That's when Zasalamel appears. "So tell me, was it you who came up with that poor plan, Hylian?"

"What was so poor about our plan? You fell for it!" – Link

"Raphael fell for it. I suspected something when you faked your death. I knew you were faking it then, but something did tip me off; I had figured Soul Calibur's true nature kicked in and affected its owner." Zasalamel explains.

"What? What are you talking about?" – Siegfried

"But, there's no point in you knowing. All you have to do is fight Soul Edge, at your full strength!" Zasalamel begins to chant a spell afterwards, and the Dodongos begin to grow. Eventually they grow to a point where they dwarf even the Dinolfos. Seriously they're huge; if Astaroth were here, he would complain about how huge they are.

Link cringes up a bit as he looks at them. "King Dodongo?"

"Friends of yours?" – Siegfried

"I killed one of those things at that exact size when I was a kid. Facing 4 as an adult should be no problem." Link says to him, regaining his composure.

"Wow. To think you've been fighting monsters that big while still a little child." Siegfried holds Soul Calibur up and prepares for battle. Three of them open their mouths and fire streams of flames.

Link reflects them using the Mirror Shield, firing at Zasalamel. He rides up top the fourth and has it move away at a safe distance. "Siegfried, their weakness is their heads. By attacking their stomachs they'll be stunned for a moment, and then we can bust their skulls open!"

"Will that work?" He asks.

"Trust me." Link takes out a bomb and lights it. He then throws it at the first Dodongo, having it explode in its stomach. Stunned, the dinosaur falls to the ground. "Now!"

Siegfried raises Soul Calibur and slices its head off. "So their heads are the most vulnerable parts."

"That won't work twice." Zasalamel says. The remaining two roll up into balls and rumble towards them. Link rolls out of the way while Siegfried runs up the side of a land mill to avoid it.

Groups of Dinolfos come towards Link. A King Dodongo rolls up behind Link, trapping him. As the dinosaurs charge Link, he gains a grin on his face. "Spin Attack!"

Link spins, releasing a large amount of energy that slices the steel plated dinosaurs apart. It also forces the Dodongo to back away. Siegfried jumps on top of that one's back, avoiding the huge spike, and shoves Soul Calibur through its neck. He then digs the sword out, allowing the Dodongo to bleed to death.

"How could this have happen? Why didn't this plan work?" Raphael shouts as he watches the fight from a safe spot.

"Master Raphael," Says a lovely woman. Raphael turns around and sees one of his servants and Auguste. This woman holds a death scythe over her shoulder, similar to Zasalamel. "Shall we get involved?"

"…Yes, Marienbard. While they're distracted, get rid of Link. With him gone, at least our plans will not have completely failed." He tells his servants.

Auguste howls and charges into battle. Before he could reach them though, chains wrap around his body and slam him into a boulder.

"It's because you're a fool that you failed, asshole!" Someone says to the nobleman. Raphael and Marienbard turn to see who did that, and spots Spawn. The man from hell stands in the daylight with his green eyes glowing and flaring at them.

"You again? Didn't Zasalamel finish you off?" Raphael exclaims, glaring at the Hellspawn.

"The worse thing that fool can do is send me to hell; in which that case I'll just escape again! Just who do you think I am?" Spawn summons flames around his right hand, and fires it off at the nobleman. Raphael and Marienbard evade it, escaping the explosion. The scythe woman prepares to attack Spawn, but a ring blade comes up and slices her arm off. She grabs hold of the wounded arm painfully, and glares at her new contender.

Tira lands on top of Marienbard. "You're alive? Well, don't bother fighting. You'll be dead before you know it."

"You bitch!" She pushes Tira off of her, and grabs her scythe with the other hand. Tira leaps and twirls in the air, and avoids her scythe. She then grabs her weapon Eiserne Drossel, the ring sword, and throws it at her, having it spin. Tira makes a cartwheel to pass by Marienbard, and lands in her weapon.

Tira uses her right foot and lifts it up, using her sword like a hula-hoop now. Marienbard charges at the woman, swinging her weapon at the crazy girl. But, Tira stops spinning her weapon and jabs at her. She blocks with the scythe, leaving Tira to sneak up under her and pull Marienbard into a half Nelson. With her other free arm she digs a knife into the woman's side.

Marienbard begins to cry out in pain, but her opponent simply grabs her mouth and silences her, while dragging the knife up her body. "Toys always suck when they break."

Marienbard's cries begin to lessen, and finally she dies. Tira lets her fall to the ground with the knife inside of her. She then picks up her weapon and walks to her master, licking the blood she got on her.

Raphael crashes into the ground. He glares up at his superior opponent, Spawn. Auguste revives and prepares to join in battle, but gets knocked away by his fists. The wolf man falls to the ground beside Raphael, spitting out some teeth. Spawn then gloats, "Listen coward, if you don't want to get killed then I expect your sorry ass to get a move on!"

"You bastard…" – Raphael

A King Dodongo crashes before Spawn, causing him to leap away. Raphael turns his attention towards Link and Siegfried, who have finally defeated the last of the three dinosaurs. Spawn grabs hold of Tira and leaves with her, transforming into ravens.

Back with the others they seem to be doing rather well. Sophitia, Setsuka, Taki and Mitsurugi have already forced back their opponents with relative ease. Of course, being as their group has the most seasoned fighters underneath Link and Siegfried, no one would have guessed otherwise.

Even the Stalfos and Dinolfos recognize their strength, and run behind two of the remaining Dodongos. They release fireballs at the group of four. While avoiding them, they continue to press forward.

"Destroy them in one fluid motion!" Taki says to the ground, gathering energy to Rekkimaru and Mekkimaru. Two copies of herself stand by her side. Mitsurugi summons lightning around his blade. Setsuka rushes ahead of the group before drawing her sword. Sophitia holds her weapon forward, summoning lightning on its edges.

At a speed no one could see, Taki, Sophitia, Setsuka and Mitsurugi release their attacks and carve through the onslaught of monsters. They stop several feet away from those monsters; Sophitia swings her sword to remove the blood while Taki, Mitsurugi and Setsuka sheath their blades in order. When Setsuka puts her weapon away, the dead Dodongos explode, taking the other corpses with them.

Maxi swings his nun chuks repeatedly, knocking out a lone Lizardman. He then kicks it to the ground. Xianghua cuts one lizard's head off and performs a barrage of kicks to finish off the last one bothering her. Kilik sweeps one to the ground and then crushes its head under his left foot. He then jabs one in the face with Kali Yuga and knocks the last one in the face with it, like he was using a bat.

"Let's see if you like this!" Cassandra lands on top of a Stalfos' skull, crushing it under her weight. She stands up and rubs her bottom, exclaiming, "Ow!"

"That takes care of that." Mina says as she stomps on a defeated Stalfos' boney remains. She, Talim and Yun-Seong are all finished with their opponents, leaving nothing left for them to deal with.

Link and Siegfried run through the throng of Dinolfos trying to attack them. Of course, Soul Calibur and the Master Sword easily finish them off. They continue towards the last Dodongo Zasalamel pilots. Link says, "You and Raphael are the only ones left, golden eye!"

"Damn you Hylian… And to think, all this wouldn't have happen if I never gave that wizard that shard." Zasalamel says.

"What?" Link pauses for a moment. His mind then pictures that evil wizard, the man who started his adventure in the first place, and he grows enraged. "Are you saying… You're the reason Soul Edge invaded my world?"

"I had to. When I discovered your world and who you were I knew you would become a hindrance beyond all measures in my plans. I had to get rid of you no matter what; that's when Majora's Mask came in." – Zasalamel

"What? You were behind Majora's Mask too?" – Link

"Who knows?" Zasalamel chuckles a little as he looks down at Link. Both the Hylian and Siegfried glare at Zasalamel in anger.

"Why? Why would you put me through all that trouble? What the hell made you think it was fine to endanger hundreds of lives?" – Link

"To get rid of you; that's the only reason. Even if I stayed away from Majora's Mask, even if I left that sorcerer to his own devices, Soul Edge would have eventually found its way to your home. Either that, or you would have discovered this world and would want to defeat Soul Edge because of it. But that doesn't matter anymore, because you're going to die right here and now!" Zasalamel swings his scythe, releasing several energy blades their way.

Siegfried stands before Link and blocks using Soul Calibur. "Link, can you shoot him down?"

"I'm out of arrows, but I could try a substitute." Link holds up the crystal amulet and places it inside of the hilt of the Master Sword. A thin diamond spike with a flat end appears, allowing Link to grasp it. He sheaths his sword and hides behind the knight, drawing forth his bow. He takes aim at Zasalamel, and fires the diamond arrow at the man.

Link's good aim strikes the dark skinned in his left shoulder, where he holds his weapon, and falls to the ground in pain. He releases control of his scythe and grips his shoulder, still bleeding like hell. With him down Siegfried releases a blast of energy at the Dodongo he was on, sending it flying just like before. Link watches as it crashes a few feet behind Zasalamel.

The villain then stands up, successfully removing the crystal diamond from his shoulder. His arm has been rendered useless, but that wouldn't stop him. "I'll make you pay for this."

"Oh shut up!" Link shouts at him. Both he and Siegfried charge Zasalamel, their swords ready to finish him off.

Zasalamel raises his scythe into the air and begins to chant a spell. Dark magic gathers around the top of the weapon, taking the form of a dark blue, purple and black. He then swings down and releases it.

Shocked at how large it is, Link and Siegfried quickly raise their weapons and counter the blast. Link invokes his Triforce to channel its power into the Master Sword, while Soul Calibur shines and releases energy. They both swing down and split the sphere into two, having it explode on the side.

Zasalamel raises his scythe to prepare the attack once more, making it larger than before. Siegfried curses, "Damn. We won't be able to block it again if it's this big. Can you reflect that with your shield?"

"It doesn't work on darkness… But don't worry; I have an idea." Link says. He takes out the amulet inside his sword and tosses it to Siegfried, who catches it. Link then says to him, "Place that inside of Soul Calibur's orb."

"Why?" – Siegfried

"Don't worry; trust me!" Link says to him. He digs into his pocket and pulls out a miniature doll-like thing; this thing has the same golden and red clothing design as his special magic armor. "That amulet should allow you to use crystals. I'll stick to this magic armor."

"Well, this seems a little risky, but you were right about the plan, so I trust you." Siegfried places the crystal inside of Soul Calibur's orb, and pure energy begins to release from it.

"Magic Armor!" – Link

Both Link and Siegfried are enshrouded by light, which finally dies out after a moment. It shows Siegfried holding Soul Calibur while adorned in a crystal-like armor with the blue scarf from earlier flowing from him, while Link has his same armor on from when he fought against that Berserker. The only difference this time is that the red is replaced with green, and a gold/green cape with the Triforce and the symbol of the Royal Family on it. The Triforce of Courage glows on his left hand.

"This armor is amazing. It feels as if Soul Calibur is one with me." Siegfried says, amazed at the energy he feels through his body.

'Huh. It didn't do that for me.' "Let's go!" Link holds up the Master Sword in his left hand and charges forward. Siegfried holds Soul Calibur over his shoulder, and dashes towards Zasalamel as well.

Zasalamel releases his spell upon them, firing three separate versions of it this time instead of just one. Siegfried swings down Soul Calibur and cuts one down while still running. Link deflects the first one coming towards him with the guard of the sword to a nearby mountain to his left and cuts through the second with ease.

Angered, Zasalamel swings at them, but since he has his left arm disabled he has to go for Link. The Hylian leaps over Zasalamel at amazing speed, while Siegfried ducks beside him and cuts him at his left hip. Link lands behind Zasalamel and slashes down at his back. More blood falls onto his body. Zasalamel turns around, a little fatigued this time, to try to get them one final time.

Link leaps up into the air once again, allowing Siegfried to hoist Soul Calibur on his shoulder. Without turning to face him, crystal spikes shoot out and pierce into Zasalamel's body. Link lands before him and slashes again, blowing the scythe wielder away. The crystals on his body shatter from the force of the swing, leaving Zasalamel to fall backwards. Blood continues to ooze from his wounds.

The others regroup with Link and Siegfried, some amazed at their new outfits. Cassandra even says, "Wow, Link! You look awesome in that!"

"Yeah, it looks good doesn't it?" Link says, smirking as he receives flattery from Cassandra.

"This is the end for you, Zasalamel!" Siegfried says to the man.

"Shut up… I can't die again… I'll lose my chance," Mutters Zasalamel. He remains on the ground, breathing in and out slowly while trying to recover. He then yells, "Revenant!"

Out from a dark portal appears a skeleton. Unlike the Stalfos this one has jester clothes on, a smooth green hat with a red feather, and dual jagged blades. He grabs Zasalamel and walks towards his portal.

"Hey! Don't think you're getting away with this!" Link shouts as he dashes towards him.

"Iron Knuckles," Says Zasalamel, summoning full armored knights made of shining metal. They each brandish an axe and glare at their opponents.

"Aw crap." Link complains. He recognizes these as some of the monsters that he had to fight against when he was a kid, and twice as he is now. He also remembers a woman named Nabooru who was turned into one when he was an adult.

As Zasalamel and his skeletal assistant leave, Link dashes towards the first Knuckle and cuts through it with all his power. He evades the others to catch Zasalamel, but finds that he is too late. Two Iron Knuckles prepare to cut him down from behind, but Mitsurugi and Siegfried rush in to cut them down.

"Link, focus on the enemies around you." Siegfried tells Link, standing behind him to guard the elf against any other Iron Knuckle.

"…Yeah." Link turns around and prepares to face the knuckles. Having two power ups, fighting these things is nothing to him. The others also do well against them, as even Yun-Seong and Talim land a good hit on them. Siegfried's armor and crystal manipulation also plays a role in protecting others.

The last one falls to the ground, and Taki mercilessly crushes its head. With this gone everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Both Raphael and Zasalamel have disappeared, and no one else is around to harm them. Cassandra sighs and falls to the ground, on purpose, stretching her arms out.

"That was so much work… But we did it. Right Link, sister, everyone?" Cassandra says.

"Yeah. Their plan failed, so there's no reason to hang around here anymore." – Taki

"Is anyone injured?" Talim asks the group. Everyone checked themselves for wounds of any sort from their battles. No one seems to have any injuries, serious ones anyway.

"We should head home soon. My daughter is still under Soul Edge's influence." Sophitia says, a serious expression appearing on her face. She leaves first, going home to see her husband and children.

"Wait up!" Cassandra and Taki go after her next.

"Well, there's nothing here for me to fight." Mitsurugi states as he follows them. Setsuka eyes him silently and walks after him.

Maxi sighs and picks up after them, with Yun-Seong and Mina behind him. Siegfried, Kilik and Xianghua leave next, after the knight retreats the armor into Soul Calibur. Talim leaves after them, but notices Link still looking out at where those two left.

"Link, are you coming?" She asks him.

"Yeah." Link deactivates the Triforce and his armor, feeling a bit of a strain lifting off of him. Using the Triforce before the Magic Armor is much safer, but it still takes a lot of magic to use properly. He regains his breathing and follows after the group. "Just who is Zasalamel? What does he really want?"


	29. The Long Awaited Time of Rest

_**A Love Forged**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda or Soul Calibur, or Spawn.

Kenshin: Alright! We're back in business!

Sora: Not really.

Kenshin: Eh?

Manabu: This chapter is the most he can get out of his memories of the next chapter, so we're sorry. Regardless, it's as close as we can get.

Kenshin: And how's he typing this all down?

Ester: His dad's laptop. So, yeah. Don't expect him to have the next one up too soon.

_**Chapter 29: The Long Awaited Time of Rest  


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"Hiyaah!" Yun-Seong leaps in the air and strikes at Maxi. The pirate simply moves out of the way and trips him, knocking the teen off his feet. He sighs and stands on top of his chest. "Get off me!"

"Nice try kid." He taunts, laughing at his failure. "What were you trying to do, a flying straight kick?"

"It worked for you!"

"My attack can't be so easily predicted. It ain't some stupid Rider Kick!" Maxi replies, moving off of him. Talim and Seung Mina watch from the sidelines, sipping some tea they fixed for themselves and the other ones training.

After their battle with Zasalamel and Raphael at the mountains, they quickly returned to Sophitia's home. There Sophitia quickly went to her daughter's bedside. Cassandra returns to her duties at the bakery. Xianghua, Talim, Maxi and Yun-Seong are training for the next fight to come. Xianghua is helping Sophitia upstairs and Taki is meditating with Kilik. Mitsurugi and Setsuka are nowhere to be found for some reason, and Link is sleeping soundly. After having used both the Triforce and his Magic Armor he would need a quick rest. Well at least this side effect is better than the last.

Link continues to nap on the couch in the living room. Mitsurugi walks into the living room to find the boy inside passed out. At first he begins to walk away, but the elf makes a quick yelp while still asleep. The samurai turns around and thinks, 'Must be having a bad dream. Heh. A warrior as powerful as him must have some demons.'

As he prepares to leave he sees Setsuka outside, as if waiting for him. She releases a cold stare to the fight loving samurai, who remains unaffected. He then states, "What? You look like you've got something to say."

"Of course I do. After all, who would stay silent when they're around the man who killed their master?" Setsuka answers, drawing her sword from its umbrella.

"Huh? I killed your master?" Mitsurugi questions, beginning to think over what she means.

Out of anger she charges at him, who draws Shishi-Oh and heads out the door. Link continues to struggle in his sleep, a bit of sweat coming down his face. Suddenly he shouts, "No," and wakes up, quickly sitting up on the couch. The Hylian looks down at his right hand before clenching it, and sighs in relief.

'Another dream about that thing... Why is it that I'm having that dream now? I haven't had it since I got married to Zelda. Is it happening again?' He questions in his mind. Link stands up and wipes the sweat off his face. That nap he was having only made him more tired. 'I can't be having that happen to me again.'

Link gets up and walks outside, spotting Kilik and Taki outside meditating north of the house. Taki opens her eyes and sees Link before her. "Link. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've decided to do some meditation. Maybe that will help me." Link says, sitting down beside them.

"Help with what?" Kilik asks curiously.

"I just had a bad dream." Link tells them. Taki and Kilik nod and continue with meditation, even as Link joins in. Taki doesn't even bother to ask him about the dream, believing full well that it was about Zelda.

"It seems you made a full recovery." A voice speaks. The meditating warriors open their eyes and spot Edge Master in front of them. Shocked, they all fall back comically. "What's your problem?"

"Master!" Kilik says.

"Don't do that! You can't just show up in front of us!" Taki yells at him.

"Don't be a whiny little kid. Link, I see you've finally healed from Soul Edge's power, both you and the Master Sword." Edge Master says, looking down at the Hylian.

"Yeah. It seems Cassandra has the Triforce now... I'll ask her about it later, but first how did you know all this would happen?"

"I didn't. I only told you that the same magic that casts the spell on you can lift it. Had the Triforce died along with Zelda the spell would have been canceled." Edge Master explains to them. "Remember this; the Triforce is a power owned by the three goddesses of creation. Its power, knowledge, and influences can never be destroyed. That's why Power was still with Ganondorf's body even after death."

"I see."

"How do you know all this, Master?" Kilik asks the old man.

"That isn't important. You have to focus your forces on Soul Edge and its growth. With the Master Sword and Soul Calibur on your side you'll be able to destroy it," states the old man. As he does the others begin to stand up. In a low voice, one only Link could pick up, he says in Hylian, "Along with Soul Calibur."

"Huh?" Link picked up what he just said.

"You should all head to Wolfkrone next. Your journey will reach its climax there." He tells them. "Also Kilik, you lost your shard of the Dvapara Yuga right?"

"Uh, yes master. It was actually destroyed in the battle against Ze-I mean, Inferno at the castle. If I still had it I would cure Pyrrah." Kilik answers, lowering his head in shame.

"Dvapara Yuga?" Link asks.

"Here you go. It's another shard of the sacred mirror. I can only assume you know what to do with it, right?" He hands Kilik a small crystal shard, one Link finds to be all too familiar.

"Thank you master!" With the shard in hand, Kilik turns to the house and quickly heads for it.

"What was that?" Taki asks him.

"The Dvapara Yuga, one of the three sacred treasures of the Ling Sheng Su Temple. It was a sacred mirror that was used to purify objects, including Soul Calibur. After the temple was destroyed the mirror found possession in Kilik's hands. But after his battle with Nightmare with Xianghua it was shattered to pieces. I now hold the remaining shards, along with the one that is lost, the one I gave Kilik, and the one Siegfried possesses."

"What? That shard was with Housenki?" Taki questions. She then turns to Link who nods.

"Are you saying you gave Housenki that shard?"

"The shard I gave him was the largest piece of the mirror left. I had befriended the demon and believed he would be a good influence on everyone in that world, so I left him the power of the shard. As you know, the power of purity lies in crystals that hold the power to absorb light. That's why when Link used it with the Master Sword it would use crystals that held the same properties and wavelengths as diamonds." Edge Master explains to them.

"I get it. Since it used to purify Soul Calibur it unlocked its true powers inside. That's why Siegfried gained that armor when he used it." Link says, coming up with his own assumption.

"That can't be. Zasalamel gave you that necklace simply to restore Soul Calibur to its full strength." Taki tells him. Link looks at her in confusion, which is understandable because he wasn't around when the white robed man told them that.

Elsewhere...

Zasalamel crashes into a wall, his body surrounded by purple electricity. Before him stands Ganondorf/Inferno, his right hand surrounded by the same energy he hit Zasalamel with. "Zasalamel, you failed me once again! That plan I had that you were supposed to go through with was a complete bust!"

"I'm sorry. I thought I had him..." Zasalamel says, standing back up while holding his arm. It seems to still be injured from the battle against Link. Down the hall, Koume, Kotake, and Raphael all can be seen behind the enigmatic man.

"Not only did you fail to kill the elf, but you didn't get rid of the Hellspawn either." Inferno tells him. He then notices Raphael and grits his teeth. "And you, you're just as useless as he is."

"I may not have participated in the fight, but I was taken by surprised when the Hellspawn arrived."

"You don't get it do you? You should have just killed him! You will have to suffer as well." Inferno holds his left hand out, and Raphael suddenly flinches. He falls down to his knees and clutches his heart. The dark energy of Soul Edge inside of him begins to grow at an unstable level. "My power will continue to grow inside of you until you can either suppress it or it turns you into a monster."

"Inferno... You..." Raphael begins to spit out blood as more energy surges through his body.

"Koume, Kotake, keep watch over him. If he keeps his sanity bring him to me." Inferno tells them. His eyes trace back to Zasalamel and he says, "As for you, lead Nightmare and the shadow to Wolfkrone."

"Right." Zasalamel fades away.

"What if Raphael becomes a beast?" Koume asks the demon.

"Then dump him with the humans in Ostrheihburg. It'll be nice to watch him collect human screams, especially that one girl's." Inferno answers, chuckling under his voice afterwards. Raphael begins to scream in pain. "Maybe it's time for me to fight directly. By the way, where the hell is Gel-O-Fury?"

"Searching for a new body, a really bloodthirsty one."

Back To Action...

"Mama..." Pyrrah says as he opens her eyes. She notices her mother over her, tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

"Pyrrah!" She shouts, hugging her beloved daughter. Kilik smiles as he pockets the shard, glad that it was able to save her. Sophitia looks back up at Kilik, and says, "Thank you Kilik!"

"It's okay. It's my duty to help those in need." Kilik replies, exiting the bedroom to leave the mother with her child. Outside Xianghua leaps up to hug him, in congratulatory to Pyrrah's recovery.

"Have a good day." Edge Master says, preparing to leave them alone.

"Wait! I have more to ask of you!" Link says to the old man.

He merely stops and says in Hylian, "You don't have time to worry about who I am. You have to prepare to face Soul Edge in battle, and Soul Calibur."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Link asks in the same language. Taki's eyebrows lower as she sighs. She's the only one who can't understand their language.

"I'm pretty sure you've sensed Soul Calibur's energy, right? Soul Edge's incomplete state, the Dvapara Yuga's need to purify Soul Calibur, and the sword saving your life are all connected." On his words, Link begins to think over what he said. His eyes open wide when he realizes something. "That's it. Once you figure out what to do, you'll be fine. The world will be."

"I see. It all makes sense, and at the same time brings up more problems. Just give me a straight answer!" Link replies.

"Good luck in your adventure. You're gonna need it." Edge Master throws a Deku Nut to the ground, and disappears in a flash. Link groans as he looks around for him, failing obviously.

"What is it with people who talk in riddles?" - Link

"What were you two talking about?" Taki asks, reminding him that she's still there.

"I'll tell you, and everyone, when it's time." Link says, walking back to the house. Taki watches as he leaves dissatisfied.

"What were they speaking about?" As Taki speaks Setsuka falls to the ground, her blade and sheath having flown off from Mitsurugi's strike. The samurai walks past her sheathing his katana.

"Wait. We're not done yet." She mumbles as she tries to pick herself up from the dirt.

"Be quiet. You're not strong enough to defeat me." He says, leaving her to her injuries.

"No! I will avenge my master's death!" Setsuka yells, crawling over to him.

"How about getting stronger before saying stuff like that? If you're not stronger than them, you won't deserve the flat of my blade." He tells her, walking inside of the home. His mind pops up images of Link and Siegfried, and the power they've displayed early this morning. Just thinking about their strength excites him to no ends.

Elsewhere...

An explosion erupts through a village, far from anyone of our friends. The one behind it is a beautiful dark haired woman in a most revealing black leather outfit, one even worse than Ivy's. Tied to her left shoulder is a dead demon's skull, and in both hands rest a katana stained in blood. Before her stands an army of soldiers armed with weapons to kill her. A normal person would be scared.

Unfortunately she is far from normal. The woman glances at the soldiers with a crazed demonic look in her eyes. She lunges forth cackling while swinging rapidly, slaying any man that got near her. By the end of it she has managed to kill everyone of them. Victorious, she falls to her knees, panting and coughing. "The ending of one's life; there truly is no better feeling than this!"

"I agree." A voice speaks to her. She turns around and spots a weird apparition floating behind her. The woman swings at it, and is shocked to find it's actually a ghost. "I sense in you a soul that desires bloodshed and hate. Would you like to live on as my vessel?"

"Will you make me powerful beyond all measures?" She questions the spirit.

"Of course. With someone like you that will be no problem!" It tells her.

"Then do it. Ravage my body and make me your vessel! Anything to make me feel true excitement!" With that the spirit enters her body, completely taking possession of her. The demon spirit, now revealed as Gel-O-Fury, opens the woman's eyes, glaring ahead at what's before her with a smirk.

"Amazing. Shura's even stronger now than when I fought her possessing a demon."

Later That Night...

Cassandra quickly rises up from a slumber-like state, looking up into the sky to see something she would never have believed. "What is that?"

In the sky several rock formations flying around one another in a spiraling circle way. On one of the floating lands stands a man encased in dark blue armor. His right arm is shown to be nothing more than a demonic three fingered claw, and in his left hand is Soul Edge held backwards.

In the middle of all the land formations is a man floating in mid air, holding his hands out. He has white hair like most people possessed by evil, and energy coming out from his hands. In the right is red while the left is blue. The power of his energy seems to be lifting the land around him.

Above him standing upside down is Link, or someone she believes is Link. But the more she looks at this shadowy person, the more she could tell that he differs from Link a bit. Her fiance has brownish blond hair, or use to, now it's blond, while this guy has silver hair. This person also has clear white orbs for eyes and war paint on his face, not to mention the clothes he is wearing are completely different from Link's. Despite that, she can't help but feel that he's somehow connected, what with the pointy ears and the Triforce on his left hand.

'Link' draws his sword, a double helix sword, from the ground and swings, releasing a kenatsu attack at the armored Soul Edge wielder. Flames surround Soul Edge and allows him to blast it back. 'Link' leaps down at him, slashing and clashing his blade with Soul Edge. The attacks create a huge explosion, one that destroys the floating lands and even consumes the floating man. Cassandra's vision is blinded by the light.

"Link!"

Cassandra opens her eyes and rises up from bed, shocked to find that it's a dream. She slowly breathes as images of the dream return to her mind as sweat continues to fall from her head. She looks around to see no one else has woken up from her outburst. 'Why? Why am my getting these visions of Link? Is it the Triforce?'

She sneaks out of bed and heads to the men's quarters to find Link, but spots him walking by while chewing an apple. "Oh, Cassandra."

"Link... Why are you up? It's late out." Cassandra asks him.

"Well, I woke up craving a midnight snack, so I came in and got an apple," Says the Hylian after swallowing a piece. He then turns his body to face her and asks, "So what brings you up at this time of night? I figured you'd be able to sleep easy with Pyrrah being free of Soul Edge's curse."

"I am. But, I just have a bad feeling about something. Ever since I got the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda, I've been having these weird dreams lately, about you. I don't know if any of it was real or just a dream..." She confesses.

"What happened?" Link asks her.

"There was someone who looked like you fighting Soul Edge as Nightmare, and this other guy. This person looked like you with those ears, but he had silver hair and war paint on him. I didn't know why, but I couldn't help but feel that he was you." She tells him, looking away with a sad look in her eyes.

"I see. Well you don't have to worry about it. If it's just a dream then it can't be too accurate." Link says, turning away from her. He didn't want Cassandra to see his face when he spoke, knowing she could tell if he lied just by looking at him.

"I guess. That other dream was pretty vague too..." She says to herself, speaking so low he couldn't hear him. Out loud she speaks, "You're right. Let's go back to bed."

"Yeah." He says, leaning forward to give her a kiss on the cheek. Leaving her speechless with that kiss, he heads for the couch and passes out.

'He sleeps down here?' Cassandra questions in her head. Putting that aside, she smiles as she walks over to her. She then lies down on top of him, snuggling close to Link in an effort to stay on the couch with him. Cassie kisses his chest, thinking, 'Goodnight Link.'

Elsewhere...

"Get them! Kill them all!" A group of bandits is currently raiding a random village south of Greece. The man leading the attack is a fifty something year old guy with a white beard, silver armor, and a blunt lance. "We'll destroy this village as a way to show our defiance to that bastard Strife."

A bandit named Greed slashes a soldier and cuts his head off. His head goes rolling over to the red spiked feet of a man covered in a blood scarlet cape. His glowing green eyes flare off at the bandit. Greed says, "Hey, who the hell are you?"

Seconds later he goes flying into the center of the village, a bloody mess. The leader looks into the direction he flew from, and sees the man from hell Spawn walking towards him. "And what manner of creature are you supposed to be?"

"I guess thieves are no different here than later." Spawn speaks, turning his eyes on him.

"If you don't want to die then stay out of our way. We're after Strife, not you!" He shouts, wielding his lance with both hands now.

"Listen Whitebeard, I don't need you and your goons getting in my way. I have other things to worry about." Spawn warns them, clenching his fist tightly. Above the bandits on a building stands Tira, a set of ravens flying over her.

"Kill him too!" His men each charge at Spawn, unaware of the ring blade whizzing through the air towards them. It carves through the mess of 'em, killing most if not all of the bandits the old man commanded. The ring blade slices across the ground, until Tira lands on top of it and stops its. She then hops off and faces the old man. He glares at them angrily, gritting his teeth. "You monsters... You're ruining my takeover of the Grandall empire! Are you working for him?"

"This wouldn't have happened if you had stayed out of my way." Spawn reminds him, forming his cape into an axe.

"Damn you... Miser, Greed, use the shards!" He, a female bandit that survived, and the injured man from earlier, each take out a Soul Edge fragment and activate their powers, enshrouding themselves in dark red energy.

'Must I fight these idiots seriously?' Spawn holds his hand out to Tira, indicating her to stay back. He then rushes into battle, prepared to take on all three of them at once.

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Kenshin: And that's what happened next. So what happens next?

Manabu: I'm almost down her storyline.

Kenshin: Put that silver PSP down and get over here! You have to tell them what happens next!

Manabu: *goes to sleep mode* Link and the others head to Wolfkrone like Edge Master said. Unfortunately they weren't the first ones to get there. Siegfried is arrested and that nightmare returns, for both him and the Hylian. *returns to game*


	30. Wolfkrone

_**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**_

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it?

Kenshin: In this chapter they head to Wolfkrone to hurry up the end of their adventure; unfortunately Link and Siegfried were there before, or were they?

Julia: Why is the story called Blades and Souls?

Kenshin: TCM was going to call it a Love Forged By Souls and Swords, but that sounded to be too cliché.

Julia: And Blades and Souls doesn't?

Kenshin: Shut up! It was my idea!

Yusei: That explains it... Also, TCM has a new laptop! He can now finish this story at its regular pace!

_**Chapter 30: Wolfkrone  
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"Goodluck on your journey Cassandra, Link!" Sophitia says to the two blond warriors as they begin their leave.

"Thank you, sister." Cassie says, holding the hands of her older sister.

"Remember to pray to Hephaestus and Athena to keep you safe." She says to her little sister.

"I'll be fine! It's not like I rely on those bums anyway!" Cassandra replies, leaving her sister to head for the group.

"I really wish you would. I know it will be of great help to you." Sophitia watches as her sister leaves. Rothion holds her by the shoulders to keep her spirits up. She then turns to Link and says, "Link, please keep her safe."

"I will. She will do the same for me I guess." Link says to her. He then heads back to meet up with the others. Together they leave Athens finally for the kingdom of Wolfkrone. Link is currently wearing a helmet Rothion fashioned for him to fit over his ears. Everyone agreed that Link gathers too much attention just by having those ears and if people had actually paid attention to it, and not thought he was just a victim of Soul Edge, they would make a real big deal about him.

Along the way they stop by a cave for the night, since it's going to rain. While setting up camp Link prepares a caught meal from a nearby lake. There he asks Cassandra, "So wait, you don't have faith in the gods?"

"Of course not! Why should I rely on someone who isn't there?" She reasons with him.

"But didn't you mention about the gods protecting you or something while we were on that ship?" He asks her. She stares back at him, as if he managed to grow three heads in those few seconds.

"I was sick! Plus I didn't really mean!" She replies, shocked herself when she remembers that. Link narrows his eyes and turns his head away from her, suspiciously.

"How far is Wolfkrone, anyway?" Yun-Seung complains, balancing his sword on his hand as he walked.

"It'll take three days to reach it. We should take our time." Taki tells the young swordsman. Link looks up into the air and spots a hawk flying above them.

'That's the direction we're going in... Nah, just a coincidence.'

Three Days Later...

"Shaa!" Yun-Seung leaps at Link, who manages to kick him in the face. He then stomps on his chest and holds his sword over his neck. "Okay, okay, you win!"

"Wow. That didn't even take ten seconds!" Seung Mina states, having seen the spar from the sidelines. Beside her are Cassandra, Kilik and Mitsurugi, who saw everything too. Cassandra sighs out of satisfaction and stands back up. "This is your worse showing ever."

"Shut up, Mina!" He shouts at the girl.

"She's right. You were so open I couldn't help it." The Hylian says to him, stepping off of Yun-Seong. He sheaths his sword away and turns to the others, as Cassandra moves towards him for a hug.

"Hey! We're finished packing up!" Xianghua tells them.

The three days of travel for Link and the gang took a little longer than expected. Along the way they visited a carpenter who would agree to sharpen their blades and weapons; he also sold Link arrows cheap. Since everyone but Maxi and Kilik took part in getting their weapons sharpened, they ended up waiting until the end of the day to get their stuff back. Maxi and Kilik both owned blunt objects so there was no point in them participating. But thanks to Link and his weapons, except the Master Sword because he couldn't hold it, it took up a lot of his time; especially after the Clawshot hit him in the face and they had to pay extra.

Now they're all just on the outskirts of the capital, having camped out due to the lateness at the time. But along the way Link often had bad dreams, each being the same as before. He never spoke to anyone about it, but Cassandra could tell something is up.

"Yeah, we're coming!" Mitsurugi says as he prepares to join up with them. He rests his arm on his katana and walks towards the others.

Kilik, Seung Mina and Cassandra follow after, leaving Link and Yun-Seong alone. The red haired swordsman complains, "How can you be so strong?"

"I've been fighting ever since I was 11. I've had to keep my skills up or I would have been dead a long time ago. I also had help, with other powers and people training me." Link explains.

"Heh, so even you had help," States Yun in a smug voice. He then crosses his arms and looks away, asking, "You think you could train me?"

"Eh?"

He then turns around quickly and shouts, "Just for a while! It's not like I actually need your help!"

Link makes a quick grin before saying, "Yeah, why not? But it's gonna be tough. You might not keep up."

"Just watch me. I ain't backing down to a long eared weirdo like you!" Yun challenges.

"Hey, we're beginning to leave!" Mina calls out to them.

"Yeah, we're coming!" Link replies, and soon the two hurry up to rejoin their companions.

"Link, remember to wear this helmet. It's better that people don't see your ears." Taki says as he hands him a green helmet.

"I told you, I don't need it." Link says in an annoyed tone. Ever since they stepped out of Athens Taki and Cassandra have been trying to get him to wear a helmet because of his Hylian heritage and features. He still doesn't think it's a big deal; if no one made a big deal of it before why would they now?

"You got lucky those other times. We're not risking it any longer!" She tells him. Link stares at her with narrow eyes, wondering when she became this group's leader.

"Link, just do it. It's better not to leave things to chance." Maxi states, crossing his arms as he looks at him. Of course, he doesn't really think that, but it would help him to get that stupid helmet on so they can move on, and it can help him get on Taki's good side.

"Link, please." Cassandra pleads with him, hoping she could atleast get him to react.

He closes his eyes and sighs, taking the helmet and placing it on his head. It successfully covers his ears. "I'll do it, but if someone knocks this off my head I'm not doing it again."

"That's all I need. Let's go!" Taki says, and finally they head for their destination.

The group of 12 are now right outside the surroundings of Wolfkrone, entering inside as I say this sentence. The bustling kingdom is thriving and boisterous. Link notices a group of kids playing tag and smiles. It's this kind of peaceful village that makes him remember what he's fighting for.

Link and the others soon reach a motel to stay just in case, and soon came time for them to explore. Taki says, "Alright, we'll cut up into three groups to cover this place quickly. Team leaders will be Link, myself and Siegfried since we're more adept at sensing Soul Edge."

"I guess." Seung Mina mumbles as she looks at their surroundings.

"Link's team will comprise of Mitsurugi, Seung Mina and Cassandra. My team will hold Maxi, Xianghua and Kilik, and Siegfried will have Yun-Seong, Setsuka and Talim." Taki says, dividing the group up.

"What?" Mitsurugi complains.

"It stays this way!" She feels it's best this way; if Setsuka is away from Mitsurugi then she won't try to attack him, not to mention he would just try to challenge Siegfried to a fight since he now knows he use to be Nightmare. Link and Cassandra are better off paired together then apart, the same goes for Xianghua and Kilik, and she feels better beside Maxi.

"Feh, whatever!" He grumbles, obviously displeased. She must have seen right through him.

"Alright, let's go!" Link says as he heads to the eastern part of the kingdom. Cassandra, Mina and, reluctantly, Mitsurugi joins him as he says, "We're going to check this part and restock on supplies."

"Good. We'll ask around for anything on Soul Edge!" Taki says back as she and her group leave for the south west portion.

Siegfried and his team go north saying, "I'll go try to speak with Princess Hilde."

Soon they were all well on their way to their destinations, whatever they may be. What they didn't realize is a group of soldiers following Siegfried's team.

Link stops by a store that sells cream filled chocolates. Of course he isn't planning to buy them, but they still catch his attention. Mitsurugi scuffs, wondering how someone like him could be the destructive man who fought against those dinosaurs and Zasalamel not too long ago. Mina on the other hand smiles, seeing Link's gentle nature.

"How are we going to find information about Soul Edge?" Cassandra asks the others as she looks around.

"Let's just ask around." - Mina

"I doubt it's going to be that easy." - Cassie

"It's okay. There was a large source of Soul Edge in this kingdom. The most concentrated part is near the castle." Link tells everyone as he leaves the chocolates.

"Eh? How do you know that?" Mitsurugi questions.

"I could sense it as we entered the place. It feels as though Soul Edge attacked this kingdom, and the area was a part of it." He explains to his friends.

"Wow. You knew all that..." Mina says astonished at Link's deductive powers.

"Now that my magic isn't fluctuating or being used by an outside force, it's easier for me to sense these things." He says with a smile. His face then goes serious as he begins to think about the energy. "Still, what worries me is that it feels as if Soul Edge could still be nearby, waiting to return."

"So that old guy wasn't just pulling our leg." Cassandra states.

"If all this is true, then why didn't you tell the others?" Mitsurugi questions.

Link turns an eye to him, and answers, "I'm pretty sure Taki knows, and Soul Calibur would tell Siegfried. Not only that, but I wanted to check out the rest of the city before I confirmed my suspicions."

"Way to go, Link!" Cassandra says proudly. Link continues walking close to the castle's eastern side, and soon the others follow him. Seeing this attitude, Cassandra becomes worried. 'I can't help but feel that there's more to his suspicions than he's letting on.'

"We're being followed." Mitsurugi says in a whispered tone.

"Eh?" His announcement broke Cassandra out of her thoughts, and drew Link and Mina's attention. Mitsurugi gestures over to a nearby alleyway, where they see a dark figure running away."Hey-

"Wait up!" Link and a guard say in unison, although that guard is off somewhere else.

Siegfried turns around and sees a group of guards coming up to him. Their leader walks out from behind them to approach the knight and his friends, saying, "Siegfried Schtauffen, you have a lot of nerve coming back here."

"Eh?" Siegfried looks at the man with a confused look on his face.

"Do you know these guys?" Setsuka asks him while looking at the two.

"You are hereby under arrest, under the charge of assaulting Princess Hildegard von Krone three nights ago." He says to him.

"What? I would never do that! I just came here today!" Siegfried states. 'Why would they think I-there's no way I would harm Hilde!'

A group of soldiers come up from behind them with guns present and aimed at him. "You will come with us or be sentenced to death here."

"What?" Yun-Seong draws his blade and prepares to battle, but Talim grabs his arm to hold him off.

"Don't. They only want me." He tells the red haired swordsman. Luckily for him Soul Calibur has shrunk to the size of a necklace before they entered Wolfkrone. "I'll come quietly."

"Cuff 'im, boys," Orders the guard of his men. Two come up to Siegfried and handcuff his wrists.

"Siegfried..." - Talim

"Shouldn't we do something?" - Yun-Seong

"Don't get involved!" Siegfried warns him. "You'll be accessories to my crime, even if I didn't do it," With that they guide him off to the castle, which is ironically where he was going in the first place. "Tell Link and the others what happened!"

"Of course!" Setsuka replies, running off to the side to find Link. Unfortunately their guns now point at them. "Eh?"

"As friends of Siegfried Schtauffen you are under arrest and will be brought in for questioning." The guard leader says to them.

"What? How can they be-"

"Silence! Anything you say or do will be heard against you in a court of law." He warns the knight. Setsuka grits her teeth and dashes away, avoiding their gun fire in search of her comrades."After her!"

"Setsuka!" Siegfried calls out. He sees Talim and Yun-Seong being handcuffed and looks down with a shameful look on his face.

Time Passes...

"Did you catch him?" Cassandra asks as she and Mina regroup with Link and Mitsurugi.

"Nah. He got away." Link answers.

"Damn it. Who was that guy?" Mitsurugi complains as he crosses his arms.

"Let's return to the others and see if they've seen anything suspicious." Mina suggests.

"Minna!" Taki calls out as they approach them. Cassandra and Link notice Setsuka is with them, but not Siegfried and the others. "Siegfried has been arrested."

"What? Why?" Link asks while looking at her.

"For some reason Siegfried was accused of having tried to kill the princess. Talim and Yun-Seong were taken too." Setsuka explains as she sighs in depression. "I ran away before they caught me."

"Why would they think he attacked her?" Link asks questionably.

"Maybe it happened during his Nightmare episode." Mitsurugi says with intrigue.

"I'm not sure... They said it happened three days ago, which is impossible because we were still in Athens then." Setsuka says, a little happy inside to speak against Mitsurugi.

"I'm going." Link says as he walks towards the castle.

"Link, no! If you break out Siegfried you'll make things worse." Taki tells him.

"No, I'm going to speak with this Hilde person. I'll get to the bottom of this." Link speaks as he stretches his arms.

"Link, you can't just go infiltrate the castle! They'll attack you!" Cassandra says.

"Let him go! It'll prove to be interesting." Mitsurugi says as he looks at him.

"Shut up you stupid samurai!" - Cassie

"What's that?" - Mitsurugi

"I'll go Link." Taki says as she heads for the castle. Link grumbles and follows after her.

"You guys wait in the rooms." Link shouts back as he chases after Taki.

"Link, wait!" But it's too late; he is already far gone, too away to listen to Cassandra's call. "Mou! Why does he do these things?"

"Wouldn't you do the same thing?" Xianghua asks him. Cassandra blushes out of embarrassment, looking away.

Kilik, though amused at Xianghua's words, couldn't help but think about Siegfreid. 'Why would the princess think he attacked him? He came here today.'

...

Taki approaches the castle and sees two guards before the entryway. She says, "I wish to see a prisoner, a Siegfried Schtauffen."

"Denied." - Guard

'Damn it.' Taki walks away with a ticked look on her face. "I guess I have to speak with her in person," She looks up at the top of the castle, where she sees a room with a balcony, and Link climbing up the side of it. "Wait, WHAT?"

He looks down at her and places an index finger up to his lips, convincing her to be quiet. He then continues, using his Clawshot to move quickly. Taki could only look up in shock, thinking, 'How can he be so reckless?"

That Night...

A maid walks down the hall towards the stairs leading down. She walks by Link, hiding behind a red curtain. He sneaks out and heads further down the hall; When he came in he tried to look for the dungeon area Siegfried was being kept, but he almost got caught and eventually was forced up to the top floor away.

'I can't reach him... I'll just have to speak with this Hilde.' Link figures as he continues down the halls as quietly as he can. After all his boots can easily make noise on this type of floor. His travel brings him to a rather large room, where a red haired woman can be seen standing and bandaging a wound wrapped around her chest.

Link knocks on the back of the door to get her attention. "Who's there?"

Link walks in and approaches the red haired beauty, who managed to grab a spear with a flag on it and a robe to wrap around her body. "Hey."

"How did you sneak in here?" She questions him.

"I had some training under the-Anyway, I'm here to confirm something; you had my friend Siegfried arrested because he tried to attack you three days ago, right?" Link asks her. She nods but continues to keep her weapon held before him. "That can't be right. He was with me and my friends in Athens. He couldn't have attacked you."

"He was here! I saw his face; he was adorn in his azure armor and he attacked me along with his two accomplish, a swordsman with long ears like an elf and a blind guy with sai like blades on his arm!" Hilde shouts at Link. His mind goes into shock when she mentions a man with long ears; the only person he can think of that is similar to that is a Hylian, but that would only have happened if someone came here from Hyrule.

"A guy with long ears," Link mutters.

"As a matter of fact, you resemble that person; he called himself Link." That shocked Link even more; let alone the fact that she met someone from Hyrule, it was someone who used his name. And now that he thinks about it, Siegfried was Nightmare when he wore Azure armor. Could someone be trying to frame them?

Suddenly, an explosion goes off in the northeast part of the village. It's so obvious it catches Link and Hilde's attention. They look out the window and see two buildings in flames. "Oh no!"

Not wasting anytime, Link leaps out the window. He takes his Clawshot out and uses it to propel himself to the ground. After retracting it by the time he reaches land, he races towards the scene of the crime. He quickly draws his sword and begins to enter the battle.

Back at the scene a figure in dark blue, azure, bloodstained armor walks towards a woman holding a child in her arms. She could only look into his eyes in fear as he comes closer. "NO! PLEASE!"

"**Become a part of my darkness, Siegfried Schtauffen's darkness!**" He says in a distorted, demonic voice. He raises his sword up and slams it down at her, but the blade is blocked by two weapons, a bo and a samurai blade. Kilik and Mitsurugi push Soul Edge back, and then kick the armored monster away.

Soon the other make it to the scene, just in time for the flames to rise high enough to expose the man's true form, something so terrifying that it spooks even this writer to view this thing as a person.

* * *

Kenshin: And that ends this chapter. Next time, 'Siegfried!' is exposed along with his accomplice. Hilde also has to embark on a quest, and Link is forced for Siegfried's freedom.


	31. Hildegard's Request

_**A Love Forged**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, Soul Calibur, Smash Bros, or Metroid. Yes, Metroid was a part of this story.

Dante: In this chapter we see who really is calling the shots on this scam. Hilde then makes a request to the group for her father.

_**Chapter 31: Hildegard's Request**_

* * *

The flames rise up and expose the blue knight's full form properly, just in time for the others outside of Link and Siegfried to see, and the sight of this monster curses this author to even refer to this being as a 'he' in the first place; the azure armor has glowing red veins going around multiple parts of its body, its skin is gnarled and black, its right arm has mutated to a tan brown and azure color claw with three fingers, its feet have crowned toes to resemble a type of horse or centaur, and horns are coming up from its right shoulder. The top of the helmet portion has a horn standing tall and red, as if it was heated metal, with several more coming from its back, darkness is taking form and expelling from its back, and its eyes are red; a sickly blood red like the moon. But the most surprising feature that denounces this thing as human is the fact that its chest and waist are a set of teeth with its abdomen a circular form of dark energy. Oh yeah, Soul Edge is held in its left hand, having taken a more gut churning form than it has ever made.

"What the hell? Is that Soul Edge?" Xianghua questions with a look of fear in her eyes. In fact, most if not everyone there has that similar look of terror. Mitsurugi and Taki are doing their best to conceal their fear, but the sweat coming from their faces is evident enough.

"That's definitely the armor Siegfried had, but it's as if the armor has moved by itself this whole time!" Kilik states before he gestures the mother and her child to run.

"Tell us! Who are you?" Taki orders of the armor monster.

"**Are you so blinded by terror you can't believe your eyes?**" It questions the ninja. It then turns to face her, back handling Soul Edge properly. "**I am the Azure Knight, Nightmare!**"

"That's good enough for me!" Mitsurugi charges at Nightmare, swinging his blade to cut through it. The armor easily holds out, not even a chip of its armor/skin comes off. Still under shock, Mitsurugi tries to back away but is struck in the gut by Soul Edge's hilt. He grabs him by the back and throws him away.

"**Your soul can never stand up to me!**" Nightmare taunts. Kilik mounts his attack but gets blown back by a force of energy, one that knocks back everyone close by.

"Dama te! Not even the king of hell can stand up to my blade!" Heishiro proclaims, sheathing his sword away and preparing to perform battoujutsu.

"He's even stronger than before! Mitsurugi, stop!" Taki warns him.

"Dama te! I've been waiting for this day for too long!" He draws his sword and slashes at Nightmare, who blocks using his sword. This breaks his sword in two, surprising him even further. "Nani?"

Nightmare smacks him into a building using his claw arm, knocking the wind completely out of him. Taki and Setsuka attack from behind. Nightmare grabs Soul Edge with both hands and swings at teh ground, generating a wall of flames to keep them at bay. A second wave of fire flies towards Talim and Yun-Seong.

"Talim!" Yun-Seong grabs the girl and ducks to the ground, avoiding the attack as it levels a building. Unfortunately the attack also scorched his back.

"Yun-Seong!" She cries, seeing his in pain from having protected her.

"He just can't be stopped..." Cassandra says as she goes to Yun-Seong.

"**Sink into darkness!**" Soul Edge releases a stream of red electricity at the approaching Maxi, who manages to roll out of the way. He then attacks him, using his nun chuks to randomly get at him. This wild style is too fast for him to make a quick reaction, so he headbutts him and knocks him away.

"Maxi!" Taki calls out in shock, her anger growing. "Kisama!"

"**That's right... Show me the madness that lies within!**" Nightmare speaks as he awaits Taki's assault.

"Hey!" Link calls out as he regroups with the others.

"Link!" Cassandra says, seeing their star fighter coming to the scene.

"So, the Hylian has finally arrived." Nightmare says as he glares at the green warrior.

"You... I figured as much. Soul Edge, no, Inferno, you're the one who attacked Hilde, aren't you?" Link says as he activates his Triforce.

"**That is correct. This armor contains Siegfried's emotions when he was my puppet. I used it along with a piece of my darkness and Zasalamel's magic to animate this body**." Nightmare tells him.

"Zasalamel?" - Cassie

"That bastard again?" Taki shouts as she helps Maxi up.

"Things were going so well." Another voice speaks. The members still awake look to the side to see a man wrapped in black, and by black I mean completely black; his clothes, skin, even his hair are all black. His eyes are red though. Link tenses up and grows enraged the moment his eyes lock onto his, and this didn't get past Cassandra. "The plan was simple; the hearts of those who have met Nightmare still haven't healed their scars and seek revenge against him. If they knew Siegfried was the one who was behind the armor they would never let him live. So I joined in to frame Link, knowing he would be hunted just as well."

"You bastard! You're still alive after all that, huh?" Link shouts in anger.

"Link, you know that guy?" Cassandra asks him. She should know the answer to this though, because no matter how she looks at it, he's a black version of Link.

"Yeah, that's Dark Link. He's an evil alter-ego of mine created by Ganondorf when I was an adult. That happened in a timeline that stopped existing, so he should have never existed anymore. But when I was in Japan I ran into him and slew him again. Why he's back I don't know." Link explains, still not letting his eyes leave him.

Dark Link hops on top of Nightmare's horned shoulder and snickers. "You don't know? I came back to life thanks to Soul Edge. Now I can use it to do my life's only purpose; killing you."

"**Get off! Your soul won't do me any good, but I can still slay you!**" Nightmare warns DL, who only chuckles playfully.

DL holds up a shard of Soul Edge, tossing it up and down in his hand. "We can still place the blame on you two by attacking other parts of this city. Won't that be fun?"

"So, that's how it is..." A feminine voice speaks. Everyone looks back behind Link and sees Hilde in her battle armor. "You both tried to frame Siegfried and this person, is that right?"

Dark Link sighs and turns around playfully, lifting his arms over his head. He chuckles a bit and says, "Oh well, looks like the plan is ruined. We can still frame them in other places."

"**Instead, let's just kill them here and now!**" Nightmare roars as he runs past DL and slashes at Talim, Yun-Seong and Cassandra. Cassie lifts her blade and blocks, using the Triforce of Wisdom to give her additional strength.

"Cassandra!" Link runs towards Cassandra to help her, but Dark Link stands in his way.

"What a problem child. So Link, you ready to die yet?" Dark Link injects the shard inside his left eye, transferring its power into his body. "It won't be as easy to fight me this time around!"

"Magic Armor!" Link digs into his bag and activates his magic armor, without using his Triforce. Adorning his golden red armor he clashes with Dark Link, who uses a dark imitation of the Master Sword.

"You're not strong enough to defeat me!" Dark Link says as he pushes him back easily. Link ducks underneath his sword swing and bash him in the face with his shield. Caught off guard by that attack, Dark Link clutches his nose in pain, but he gets his right arm cut off by Link. "You bastard!"

"I don't have the time nor the patience to deal with you, damn it!" Link releases Shooting Stardust at Dark Link, who counters with a black version of the same attack. Link and Dark Link leap over the attacks and perform Cosmic Rave close up. Dark Link misses but Link manages to slice at his stomach. As they fall, Dark Link releases control of his sword and grabs Link by the collar, pushing him down to the ground. "Damn you!"

"For the last time, I ain't gonna keep losing to you," Dark Link growls as Soul Edge's energy begins to grow inside of him.

Link kicks him off and draws his bow and arrow, firing an ice arrow at DL's left foot. Dark Link releases black energy from his body, breaking the ice, and grabs the arrow before throwing it back. Knowing what's to come, the real Hylian deflects it with his shield.

Meanwhile, Nightmare swings his blade to block Taki's strikes. He tries to grab her with his arm, but she leaps over him, leaving his front exposed to Maxi. "Rising Dragon of The Zodiac!"

He kicks the knight in the stomach, causing a strike that manages to ruin the front of his armor. Soul Edge's darkness repairs Nightmare, who growls like a beast catching its prey running away. "**Your souls shall be delicious!**"

Link drops his weapons and grabs hold of Dark Link's only arm. He then knees him four times in the gut, pound him in the back, and throws him at Nightmare. He easily catches the weakened doppelganger, noticing how damaged he's become. '**His body really can't hold the power of Soul Edge. Not to mention that boy knows his strategy is the same as his own**.' "**You all get a lucky reprieve. But remember; no human will escape my true wrath**!"

"Oh well. This is enough. Siegfried's exposed as Nightmare's former host, so we can take our leave." Dark Link speaks, grabbing hold of his most painful wound. He then throws a Deku nut to the ground, and they disappear during the flash.

"Wait!" Link rushes to the scene to catch him, but he's gone before it's too late. He kicks a piece of the building's rubble away in anger. 'Damn! He got away!'

Cassandra couldn't help but watch him throw a bit of a fit, realizing something was up. 'What's wrong with Link?'

Hilde approaches the group and speaks, "So it's true; you're the group of warriors I've heard about."

"You've heard about us?" Kilik asks her.

"Yes. My assistant Dampierre told me all about your group; you've been traveling around the world battling Soul Edge's forces to destroy them. You've defeated the Immortal Pirate Cervantes and even freed the Manjitou leader Yoshimitsu from the sword's spell." Hilde explains, bringing up past events some of them (Cassandra) don't really want to relive. She cups her chin and mutters, "I didn't know Siegfried joined you guys."

'So that's what Link has been doing ever since he helped me and Heihachi...' - Setsuka

"Siegfried is innocent! He's not the one who attacked you!" Taki says to the princess.

"Yeah. I can see that now. He doesn't deserve to be locked up or executed... But regardless of that, Nightmare did mention that he was formerly his host." Hilde speaks, looking down with a stern, grievous look on her face.

Our heroes, sort of, each look away in shock, realizing they couldn't hide that anymore. Taki is about to say something, really riding down her reputation as a silent warrior, but Hilde speaks, "No matter. I'll just let him tell me. I'll know all I need to from his words," She turns to the others, especially Link, and says, "Enjoy your night's stay. I'm sorry for any trouble I may have caused you."

She then heads back to her castle, approached by a group of knights who have finally decided to show up. (They knew for sure that Nightmare was there and to be honest some of them chickened out.)

"We'll have to see to Siegfried tomorrow. There's nothing we can do now." Kilik says to the others. They all agree and head to the hotel they booked to rest for the night.

"Link, don't rush off to do reckless things ever again!" Cassandra shouts to the elf, hitting him in the back of the head with her shield. Since he's using a helmet he'll be fine.

And so they rest for the night, some of them unease at what could happen to Siegfried.

...

"Oi, bastard. You got a guest. Be presentable!" A guard speaks to Siegfried. He and the redemption knight are within the dungeons of the castle. Siegfried is sitting quietly inside his cell awaiting his judgment. Of course, he could easily break out with Soul Calibur, but that would only prove he's a criminal.

'Still, with all I've done I wouldn't be surprised to be called one.' Siegfried thinks as he lifts his head up. He gasps, although not surprisingly, to see Hilde standing before him. "Hilde!"

"I had a meeting with your friends. Apparently, there was a monster named Nightmare who attacked the town just now. It seems he framed you for the crimes against me." She explains, looking down at the swordsman who drops his head back down. "Although, he did mention you used to be his host."

"...Yeah." Siegfried says after a long pause. "I was Nightmare. Back then, I made a mistake, and someone truly important to me died. I went insane. I even convinced myself that it wasn't my fault, and that Soul Edge was responsible... I sought after the blade and stole it from the corpse of a pirate... That's when it made a deal to bring back my father if I became its new vessel for a while."

"But it had no intention of doing so, right?" Hilde asks, sighing as she realizes the rest of that.

"I recently gained my body and mind back because of Soul Calibur, and I now have a chance to redeem myself for all the sins I've committed! Please, put off my execution until I destroy that cursed blade!" He begs, lifting his head up to face her. "You can kill me after I've helped my friends!"

Hilde continues to stare at the man for what seems like a long time. She sighs and approaches him, lifting her flag pike.

Tomorrow Morning...

"Hey, wake up!" Kilik says to Link, who is still sleeping on the bed adjacent to his.

"Huh? What?" Link asks groggily, still half asleep. He opens his eyes and rubs it free of eye crust. "What is it?"

"It's morning. We have to see what happened to Siegfried!" He reminds him. The blond elf then snaps fully awake, rising up from bed to head for his clothes. When booking the rooms the group decided to have half the rooms be for women and the others men, much to Xianghua and Cassandra's discord. He's in a room shared with himself, Kilik and Maxi.

After the three got dressed they head out the building to meet up with the others. Cassandra shouts, "You guys are late! Even Yun-Seong got up earlier than you!"

"Sorry about that. It was a long night for me." Kilik states, lightly scratching the side of his head with his index right hand finger.

"Where's Xianghua?" Taki asks, looking around for the Chinese girl.

"Kilik you bastard!" Xianghua shouts as she drop kicks him from behind. "Quit sneaking into our underwear!"

"Why you!" Cassandra and Setsuka join in on Xianghua stomping on the bo master. Talim is too embarrassed thinking about it, Seung Mina doesn't seem to mind, Taki is too annoyed to do anything, and the guys don't seem to care, especially Link and Maxi who know about Kilik's problem.

"Hello everyone." A voice speaks. Everyone halts from what they're doing to see who it is, and spots Hilde standing before them. "I spot with Siegfried. He told me of everything."

"Princess-"

"Before you go off, there's something you should know. I made a deal with him to absolve the man of his sins." She begins, prepared to bring up what she spoke to Siegfried about last night.

_Flashback..._

_Hilde brings the flag pike down to Siegfried, lightly tapping it on his left shoulder. He looks up in shock, as she says, "Sir Siegfried, you are a great warrior indeed. Only one who deserves the title warrior is someone who gives their well being to save the lives of others. I will knight you, and free you of your sins."_

_"H-Hilde..." - Siegfried_

_"But, before I can, I need to ask of a favor."- Hilde_

_End Flashback..._

"When Siegfried took up the blade and became Nightmare, he unleashed Malfestation. The power transformed my father, the king, into a beastly monster. I wanted to find a way to free him, but all attempts by our kingdom's scientists and medics couldn't do anything, the ones who lived anyway." She explains. "If there is a way for him to be saved then I can properly forgive him for what he did.

"I hear there's an alchemist that specializes in this type of stuff, but she lives in London. I was hoping you could accompany me there, some of your group." Hilde tells them.

"I see. If that's all that's needed..." Taki muses, thinking about Siegfried's freedom.

"Do we really have to go? Soul Edge is still out there!" Yun-Seong brings up.

"Only four of us need to go. The rest of us can stay behind." Link tells him, causing the guy to groan.

'Maybe this is what that old man wanted us to do.' - Mitsurugi

"I'll go!" Link says, walking towards Hilde. "I'll take you to this London."

"I might as well go too. I've been to London before." Taki says, walking over to Hilde. 'Besides, I may have a suspicion on who this alchemist is.'

"Thank you." - Hilde

"I'll go too." Cassandra suggests, stepping forward.

"I might as well." Mitsurugi volunteers, joining Link and Taki, and Cassandra. 'Besides, this gives a good excuse to fight him.'

"Then it's settled. We'll head for London to find this alchemist and cure Hilde's father. Until we return, and until Siegfried is free from jail, Kilik will be in charge." Taki says, turning her eyes to the bo master. Really, he's the only one she can trust. She doesn't know Setsuka or Mina well enough to give them leadership position, and to her the others are either too immature or a sexy, idiot pirate to be trusted. "We'll leave right away."

"Just a minute. I have to get my assistant Dampierre." She says, heading towards the castle for the mentioned man.

An Hour Later...

"I'm ready." Hildegard says as she returns to the group with six horses. She is adorn in her armor. Beside her on another horse is her assistant Dampierre. He turns away while shuffling a bit in his seat.

"Horses!" Link approaches one horse and lightly rubs its mane. "You're no Epona but you're still pretty."

"You handle horses?" Cassandra asks. She picks a horse and sits on it.

"Yeah. I had, well I guess have, a horse named Epona. I'll tell you all about it when we come back." Link says as he mounts his horse. Taki and Mitsurugi, the latter despising horses, mounts his and they prepare to head out.

"Let's go!" Hilde says as she leads the five of them outside.

"I hate horses." Mitsurugi complains as he tries to get his horse under control.

"You hate allot of things!" Taki reminds him, to which he scowls at her.

"Be quiet! You're upsetting the horses!" Link says to them.

Dampierre continues to watch Link as they pick up speed. 'What none of these fools seem to notice is that I am really Sanyo, the man who was hired to keep Siegfried busy while Raphael and Zasalamel tried to kill that damn elf1 I fulfilled my job and received payment so I have no interest in capturing or killing him and Siegfried now, but I'll have to want until my employers show up.'

"So, how long will it take to reach London?" Cassandra asks.

"About a week." Taki answers her. At that Cassandra loses concentration and falls off her horse, something that's never happened because of her experiences with horses owned by her sister Sophitia.

Two Days Later...

"Do you got the firewood ready?" Link asks Mitsurugi as he uses his sword to adjust the burning wood for their campfire.

"Yeah, yeah." He tells him. After two days of travel from Wolfkrone the group of six find that they are just a few more days away from the supposed location of this alchemist. No problems have reared themselves at them. Mitsurugi lifts his head up after tending to the wood, and glares at Link. "Are the others still out with the horses?"

"Yup. It shouldn't be long before-" Before Link could continue, Mitsurugi draws his blade and points it at his neck. "Eh?"

"Before that happens, Hylian, there's something I want to look into; your strength." Mitsurugi challenges, aiming to fight Link. The elf could see exactly what he's looking for, and doesn't bother to say anything for the next few seconds.

"Sure... I could use some practice." Link draws the Master Sword and his Hylian Shield, replacing the Mirror Shield. Mitsurugi charges forward and swings downward. Link blocks with his shield and kicks at the back of the samurai's left leg with his right. Mitsurugi draws it back and Link misses, but he recovers by spinning and planting a roundhouse kick with his other foot to the samurai's temple. Mitsurugi is knocked a couple of feet away, and Link charges at him.

Mitsurugi gathers energy to his blade and releases a stream of lightning. Link blocks with his shield, but the force knocks it away. The samurai leaps into the air to cut him down, but the Hylian rolls out of the way and sweep kicks him to the ground. Mitsurugi jabs his blade at Link, who blocks using his Master Sword. They both jump back and stand back up to their feet.

Mitsurugi charges at him and makes rapid consecutive stabs at Link. He ducks, dodges, and slips away from each strike. Link then spins to the side and swings down, forcing his sword to stab into the ground. Link swings upward along the blade, causing sparks to rise up as it scrapes along the metal. Mitsurugi leans all the way back to successfully avoid his head coming off. He then leans back forward and swings, cutting his left cheek. Mitsurugi then kicks Link back into a tree. At that moment Hilde, Cassandra and the others return in time for them to witness the fight.

"What are you guys doing?" Taki asks them.

"Sparing, and I'm winning!" Mitsurugi tells her, looking down at the standing Link. 'He seems to be getting more vicious as this fight drags on.'

Link makes the next move and hastily charges in, using Hurricane Slash to launch Mitsurugi in the air. Glaring he leaps up into the air at him, performing a half-moon slash at him. Mitsurugi blocks but gets sent to the ground. He then finishes this combo by aiming his sword downward as he descends. The samurai jumps away and avoids the possibly deadly blow. Link draws his blade and charges at Mitsurugi, swinging hard at the samurai. He blocks with his katana, but it suffers a large crack from the blow.

Link then performs the Hyper Dash and prepares to attack him, but suddenly a large snarl can be heard not too far away. Link stops just as everyone else looks ahead into the trees, to see a group of lizardmen spying on them. Upon being exposed, they run on sight. Link runs after them before anyone could react. Link leaps at them with a slash, cutting one of them in half. Two stay behind but the rest manage to flee.

A Lizardman leaps at Link from behind, but he gives him a roundhouse kick and decapitates him. Link then turns to the last one, who runs away out of fear. He throws the Master Sword at it and impales the creature into a tree at the shoulder. The others manage to make it to the scene to find Link holding the lizardman by the throat and punching it in the face. It snarls and cries out as Link continues to pound it viciously, his left fist releasing sparks each time it strikes the reptile.

"Link, stop! That's enough!" Link continues to punch the lizard out, ignoring the words of the red ninja.

Cassandra reaches out and grabs his arms and pulls him away from the lizard, which is dead by now. "Link, get a hold of yourself!"

"Huh?" Link blinks and comes to reality, turning back to see Cassandra around him. He then realizes what he did to the Lizardman. "Oh, sorry. I guess I went too far."

"Those lizards weren't going to attack us, were they? They were sent to spy on us." Taki states upon realizing that they all ran off.

"So, Soul Edge is planning something and needs us out of the way?" Link asks, looking back at Taki. Cassandra loosens her grip and sighs, seeing Link back to normal. "It would make sense. Those were only Lizardmen. He would have sent someone stronger."

"We'll get going tomorrow morning. If we stay any longer Inferno will send more." Taki says as she walks towards the campfire. The others do all well, with Cassandra keeping her attention to Link.

With this incident in the bag they keep watch over their surroundings. Link sits by the fire while Dampierre and Taki keep watch. Soon it becomes nightfall, and Cassandra still couldn't get over Link's actions. He finally notices her stares and asks, "Cassie? Is something wrong?"

"Link, I've been meaning to ask, but I can't help but feel you're not yourself. Ever since you've run into that dark version of yourself your fighting has become more vicious. Is there something you want to talk about?" Cassandra speaks finally. Link tenses up when she brings that up. He was hoping she wouldn't notice, or that he could calm himself, but he should have expected as much when he became a kid. "Link?"

Link sighs and leans forward in his seat, keeping a good distance from the fire. Mitsurugi lifts his ears as he prepares to listen, along with Hilde, Taki and Dampierre. 'I should have known I couldn't keep it a secret from her.' "Well, you know when you mentioned I had brown hair before but now it's blond? There's a reason for that. It also has something to do with that story I told you, Majora's Mask."

"Oh that? What's wrong?" - Cassandra

"What's that?" Taki asks.

"Link told me and Maxi a story about how he stopped the moon from crashing on his planet. He had to also fight against the being who caused it, a powerful, mischievous god sealed inside a mask." Cassandra explains to the ninja, intriguing Taki, Mitsurugi, Hilde and Dampierre. "Link was also younger back then."

"That's impressive." - Hilde

"Yeah, you see... I omitted some parts from that story so you wouldn't find out the truth... After the moon was stopped from crashing, Majora didn't fight me in public. It took me to the core of the moon to fight it." Link begins, keeping his eyes away from her.

"Wow! You went to the moon?" Hilde asks in surprise.

"It's not made of cheese if that's what you want to know." Link tells her, bringing the princess down with an 'awh'. "Anyway, there Majora's Mask decided to play a game of tag and that I would be the monster trying to kill him. So he gave me a mask to 'make it fair and fun'. At first I was ecstatic about using it since by then I had used allot of masks to battle his minions, but from the moment I touched that mask I realized something; I could sense something sealed away inside it so fierce, powerful, and evil, that it made me understand why a mischievous demon like Majora would call it a monster. I didn't bother thinking of using it, but soon it came to a point where my life was depending on it; I was younger then and I couldn't think of anyway to stop it, so I had no choice but to wear the Fierce Deity's mask.

"I had managed to win and split the mask in two, but the battle had cost me; I lost conscious and my body was controlled by something else. When I came to, I was beside Zelda and Impa, and she told me that I had went on a rampage for hours, destroying everything in my path. I was so glad that I didn't kill anyone during that time." Link takes a moment to take in a deep breath. After exhaling he continues, "At the end of my rampage the mask shattered to pieces and disappeared. Even so, I couldn't stop having dreams of the destruction I did. Then there was the time I was attacked by an ogre, and I felt my body being controlled again. The Triforce me and Zelda owned allowed me to regain control, but that was when we realized the situation was even worse than we thought; The deity inside the mask had moved into my body. To prevent a full takeover, Zelda and Impa went through the process of sealing the monster inside of me. A change in my personality and my hair turning brownish was a side effect of the seal.

"Ever since then I've been able to control myself better, the dreams stopped, and his powers never came out. It's been fine, but when I became a kid I've started having those dreams, not to mention my hair is blond again. I can't help but feel I'll transform again." Link's ending has left the others looking at him questionably, well atleast Hilde. Dampierre is rubbing his chin with interest.

'That's interesting. He didn't mention that about him.' - Dampierre

"So, let me get this straight..." Mitsurugi begins, turning around to face the group. Link braces himself, awaiting the hateful response for something he had no choice in. "You can become stronger than when you were fighting against Zasalamel?"

Hilde, Cassandra and Dampierre each fall to the ground in response to those words. Taki on the other hand sighs, knowing that's just like him. Link, having some sweat drop, asks, "What? That's all you cared about?"

"I don't give a shit about what you are! I only care about how strong you can become! Afterall, you, Taki and Siegfried have given me reasons to surpass my limits!" He states proudly.

'Idiot.' - Cassandra

Link couldn't help but feel a little glad for his words. It makes him feel better that he doesn't hate him, but the strongest man in the world thing is a little weird. "Thanks, I guess."

"Why are you making a big deal about that? You're acting like a little wuss because of what other people think!" - Mitsurugi

"I don't want anyone to know about this! Hyrule was recently attacked by an evil monster sealed in a mask, and the threat of Ganondorf's return was still in the air! It's just as bad here because there's a demonic sword turning people into beasts! The last thing anyone needs to know is that their Hero of Time can turn into a demon at anytime!" Link yells back.

"But you couldn't tell me?" Cassandra finally manages to say. Link turns to her and sighs depressed. "If we're going to be together you have to be brave and tell me things about yourself for our relationship to work! Even if it may endanger it!"

"It's harder for me to deny me having a monster inside of my body when I'm talking about it. I mean, the last thing I'm worried about is the trouble I'll get from my ears." Link explains to her.

'Link...' - Cassandra

"Anyway, let's get some rest. We'll need all the time we can get to reach the alchemist's home." Dampierre says as he lies down. Link sighs and goes to a tree to lean on as he sleeps. Cassandra sits beside him, and Hilde sleeps near the fire.

Taki sits on a comfortable log and looks at the sleeping couple, sighing. 'Why do men have to be idiots about their own safety? Your life is more important than you think.'

* * *

Yusei: That ends this chapter. Read and Review! Please?


	32. Dark Link's Final Attack

**_A Love Forged_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, Soul Calibur, Smash Bros, or Metroid. Yes, Metroid was a part of this story.

Dante: Welcome to another chapter of A.L.F.

Yusei: Alf?

Dante: No, A Love Forged. It's shortened because the title is a bit too long…Although, it does kind of look like Alf. Anyway, in this chapter the group of six meets the British Alchemist, and Dark Link makes his final return.

_**Chapter 32: Dark Link's Final Attack**_

* * *

Dark Link falls face forward on the ground, his body expelling fumes. In front of him sits Ganondorf/Inferno in his throne. Dark Link looks up at the leader of their group, and begs, "Please... Give me more... More Soul Edge!"

"...Eh, sure," Inferno says, holding his left hand out to reveal a tiny shard of Soul Edge. He flicks it at Dark Link's skull like a whip and it enters inside of him. The shard increases his strength and releases dark energy within him. He now stands on his two feet, his wounds healed and his arm grown back. "I've taken some shards from my body to be used for situations like these. I'm sure it suits you fine."

"...It's not enough. Give me more!" Dark Link staggers over to Inferno, who kicks him away.

"Hmm... I might, but you have to give me something in exchange." Inferno clenches his hand and releases, showing 2 more shards twice the size of the last one.

...

"Are we there right?" Cassandra asks, already tired from traveling this much.

"Quit complaining, Kathandra. We're almost to London," Taki says as they walk through the streets of the British Empire.

"How many times must I tell you my name is Cassandra BEFORE YOU UNDERSTAND?" Screams Cassandra, her frustration and tiredness coming out through her anger.

It has been a full week ever since the team of six consisting of Link, Cassandra, Taki, Hildegard, Dampierre and Mitsurugi left Wolfkrone. After that incident with the lizardmen they had to move more quickly than before. They were then attacked by Iron Knuckles that killed their horses, which slowed them down. Still, they make it to London without much trouble. Infact that last attack was the only one.

"Cassandra, calm down," Link says to the blond. She turns to him and growls, but calms down upon seeing his face.

"Okay."

"Let's ask around for the alchemist. What does he look like?" Mitsurugi asks Hilde.

"My intelligence has informed me that the alchemist is actually a white haired woman with lavender skin," Explains the princess' second hand. At this both Taki and Mitsurugi flinch in unison.

'White haired woman... Could he mean her?' - Taki

And so with this information in hand they begin their search for the white haired alchemist, asking around and such. They even split up into three separate teams to cover more grounds. But it seems each person they asked has kept quiet about the subject, claiming they don't know. They regroup at a restaurant.

"Anything?" Hilde asks.

"No, sorry," Link says, causing the princess to sigh. "It seems anyone who hears that description turns cold and leaves."

"I found something out," Cassandra says, gathering everyone's attention. Since she was in a group outside of Hilde's and Link's this isn't at all surprising; what is surprising is the fact that she found something Taki didn't. Cassandra points south. "It seems someone named Isabella Valentine lives in a mansion right outside of town."

"Good work!" Taki says as she heads into that direction. The others follow her.

...

The group makes it to a large mansion resting just outside of London, as Cassandra said, sitting by a green pasture. Taki walks up to the main door and pushes on it, the door opening rather nicely. "Hello? Is anyone in here?"

With silence being her answer, Taki walks in prepared to search the mansion. Mitsurugi grabs her arm, stopping her from going any further. "Isn't it rude to just walk in to another person's home without permission?"

"And what would you have done?" - Taki

"I'd have kicked the door down and stormed the place! You're getting soft, Taki!" he says to her, pulling the woman back so he could go ahead of her. Taki growls angrily and follows after him. Link and Cassandra look at one another, and sigh.

"Should we follow them?" she asks the elf.

"We better. Those two aer likely to get into a fight," he replies, walking into the mansion with Cassie. Hilde and Dampierre go in after them, not knowing what's going on. Minutes after entering the mansion the group of six comes before a living room, which is bigger than any they've seen. Roasting in the fireplace is a fire, obviously, but there seems to be no one around.

Taki enters the livnig room first, and the moment she's away from the group she realizes soething. Turning back to the others she shouts, "Get back," and an array of blades comes flying at her. She blocks the batch with Rekki-maru, but then they come together to form a single long chain, similar to a whip. Attached to the other end is a hand covered in gold armor, and with that hand is Isabella Valentine.

"Just what brings you into my home ninja? Don't you know it's rude to barge into another's home?" Ivy questions with a venomous tone.

"I knew it. You're the alchemist Princess Hilde was talking about," Taki says as she glares at the white haired witch.

"She is?" - Hilde

"You didn't answer my question, but now I'm beginning to see your intentions. You wish to hire me, is that right?" Ivy asks, looking directly at the princess now.

"T-That is correct," Hilde replies, stepping forward. Ivy withdraws her weapon and walks forward. As she does Link and Taki notice she has a scar over her right shoulder. "I need a cure for my father. He has been transformed into a vicious beast."

Heh, been there done that. Ivy thinks, her mind going to her own father. "I may be able to conjure a potion, but there's a large payment involved for me."

"We'll pay you when we can be sure you can cure him," Taki tells her.

"And how do I know you're not going to shirk away when you receive the potion? I can't exactly trust you." - Ivy

"Ironic, eh?" - Mitsurugi

"I can make a cure; after all, it was Soul Edge's Malfestation that did it, right?" she asks. Hildegard nods in response, confirming her suspicions.

At that she walks over to a table and begins scribbling on a sheet of paper with an ink pen. Ivy then hands her the paper, revealing her bill. "This is all I want from you."

"What? But this is more than I could ever own! You could bankrupt our kingdom!" Hilde shouts after reading the bill, and the many zeros attached.

Taki takes the paper and reads the bill. "Ivy, you can't charge this much!"

"Of course I can. I wouldn't bother making offers to someone who couldn't afford payment," Ivy says to her.

"This woman is unbelievable," Cassandra says. She turns to Link and asks, "Link, you've been silent for a while. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Link says, remaining silent. He then says, "I just don't understand your currency, or care."

"What kind of fool doesn't care about money?" Ivy questions before turning to Link. Her eyes narrow as she gets a good look at him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Link. Is there a way to reduce whatever price you're making?" Link asks her.

Ivy remains silent as she looks at him, before flinging her whip blade to knock off his helmet. Taki immediately draws her weapon before the helmet could hit the floor and aims it at Ivy's throat. Ivy ignores Taki only to look at Link, or more importantly his ears. "You're a Hylian."

"Yeah," he replies, as if nothing happened. Hilde is stricken with shock upon seeing his ears.

"Don't 'yeah'! She just attacked you!" Cassandra shouts at him.

"I'll tell you what, maybe I can reduce the price, but you have to trade for something," she says to him. "I want you to pass over some of your spells to me."

"My spells?" Link repeats, blinking once. He doesn't really mind, it's just that it caught him off guard. He then says, "Fine."

"Fine?" - Cassie

"Fine," Ivy says, sheathing her blade and walking past them into the hallway. "Follow me to my lab."

The group soon begins to follow her, leading to a laboratory in a different section of her home. There they find several glass jars of liquid, most likely potions and elixirs. She sits by a desk and asks, "Do you have a piece of his DNA? Any hair or blood or anything?"

"I do." Hilde approaches Ivy and hands a vial with hair inside. It looks more like fur though. "This is some of my father's fur from when he transformed."

Ivy opens the vial and releases the hair. The moment it touches her hand she could feel her skin crawl. 'This is definitely Soul Edge's Malfestation.' "I can make a cure, but I will need a few things."

"Really?" - Hilde

"I have all that is necessary for the cure, except for three things: the head of a statue from the Greek god of forge, a hair from a thousand year old beard, and the venom of a dragon," she says to them. The mention of the statue brings shock to Cassandra, as she knows that it could only be Hephaestus.

"A dragon's saliva? Where the hell are we gonna find that?" - Mitsurugi

"Dragons don't exist here?" Link whispers to Taki.

"There have been recent rumors about a fire dragon by a mountainous volcano. We can check there," Ivy says.

"What about this thousand year beard?" - Cassandra

"That's just a title. We need hair from a very old man. I hear that someone going by the name Edge Master has such a beard..." - Ivy

"Him again?" Taki complains.

"We could split into teams to find the items. It will be easier that way. I'll go with the Hylian in search of the dragon fang," Ivy says, stating her plan to the others. Cassandra tenses at that. "The rest of you can figure out where to go for the other two items."

"What? Why do you get to go with Link?" Cassandra questions in a jealous tone.

"Because the Hylian has the power to fight against such beasts. Not to mention he can teach me those spells. That's part of the deal, afterall." Ivy's explanation hits Cassandra hard.

"It'll be alright Cassie," Link says, pulling down on his gloves. "I've fought dragons before. If we're lucky we can just ask it from him. Not all dragons are evil."

"Oh, what do you know?" - Dampierre

"Didn't I mention I come from another world?" - Link

"Then Mitsurugi and I can search for the thousand year beard. Cassandra is Grecian so she should know about the statue," Taki says.

"What? Why should I be with you? I could kill you at any moment!" - Mitsurugi

"Maybe, but I can't expect you to behave yourself if you went with Cassandra and Hilde," Taki explains. The samurai scuffs and turns around, knowing she may be onto something.

"So, that's the plan. We leave out tomorrow," Ivy speaks.

Tomorrow Morning...

The group of seven come before the exit of the town, ready to make their trip. Much to Mitsurugi's dismay they have horses. Ivy says, "Depending on how far what we are looking for are, it may take a while. We'll each return here within 3 days."

"Deal. Now, you just remember your part of the deal!" Cassandra says to the white haired woman.

"Yeah, yeah... I will make sure the Hylian returns alive, or there will be no charge," Ivy says to her. Taki grabs hold of her left shoulder and turns the woman to face her.

"Not only that, but if he dies I will personally kill you," she speaks to her venomously.

"...Whatever..." - Ivy

"Let's get going," Link says, before he takes off for the mountains. Ivy follows after her. The others leave as well; Cassandra takes a moment to watch Link disappear into the distance before focusing on her task.

Hours Later...

"It's just up ahead," Ivy says while pointing to the volcano. It rumbles a few minutes later. "It seems to be active, but that's probably just the dragon at work."

"What does the dragon look like?" Link asks.

"Dunno. Everyone who went has died... But the rumor is that it resembles an Asian dragon and controls magma and fire." Ivy's explanation of the dragon rings a bell in Link's mind.

'Actually, that sounds a little like Volvagia... It would make sense if Inferno was behind that too...' Link thinks as he continues to gallop to the volcano. Suddenly a group of Lizardmen rise up from the ground.

The horses back up, forcing Link to steady his. Ivy hops off of hers and draws her Ivy blade. Link jumps off of his horse towards the lizards. He cuts down one, glaring at them with hateful looks. "Prepare yourselves.

"Spin Attack!" Link spins around and blows away the herd of lizardmen in his way. They limp away to escape the powerful Hylian, who finally calms down.

"Aren't you a hasteful one... Is something wrong?" Ivy asks the blond Hylian. He turns around to look at her and nods, but then suddenly he makes a shocked look on his face. "What?"

"There's someone stronger coming this way," he speaks, looking around for the source of the evil energy he feels. Suddenly the ground before them is struck by a black lightning bolt, one that blows both of them back. Out from the darkness appears Dark Link. "Dark Link!"

"I've found you, bastard," he says as he walks closer to Link.

"What's wrong? No more of your cheerful quips? No play acting?" Link questions, knowing that's where he would go straight to.

"I've lost patience. I will kill you now, and get rid of you once and for all!" Dark Link holds up a shard of Soul Edge. He then absorbs its essence inside of him, by eating the shard. Darkness explodes from within him.

"An immediate power up?" Link backs away to avoid his head coming off from Dark Link's quick blade. Link then kicks at DL's legs, who jumps in the air and kicks him in the face, knocking him to the floor. Link falls down but rolls away to stand back up, only to receive a knee attack from the ever quick DL.

Link stumbles backwards a bit, still in shock from that kick. 'I can hardly keep up now.'

"How does it feel? To be helpless before someone mightier!" DL states before he hoists his blade over his shoulders. Dark Link swings, releasing a stream of energy that blows him away. While in midair Link throws the Master Sword at him, it piercing through his chest.

Link crashes on the ground, while Dark Link looks down at his wound. He laughs and pulls the blade out, chucking it over to the side. "Like that will work on me! You should know better than that, considering what I am!"

Dark Link charge at Link, about to finish him off. Ivy shows up before him though and blocks with her blade. He glares at her and spits, "Don't get in the way you ugly bitch!"

"THAT'S MY LINE!" Ivy knees him in the gut and slashes with her whip, knocking him back. She then uses her sword to grab the Master Sword and pull it in the air. "Don't get in the way of my job."

Link grabs the Master Sword and gets into his battle position. "Thanks."

"Don't bother. I'm only fulfilling my end of the bargain; making sure nothing happens to you," Ivy says, remembering the agreement she had with Taki and Cassandra.

"I'll finish this off quickly..." Link digs into his bag and prepares to grab his Magic Armor, but he can't seem to find it. "Where is it?"

"Looking for this?" Dark Link holds up Link's Magic Armor, and tosses it in the air. He forms a dark grid over it as it falls to the ground. "Not this time you bastard!"

"Damn it!" Link jumps into the air and shoots his Clawshot, which smashes into Dark Link's face. He grabs his face, including his nose, while groaning in pain.

"Extend!" Ivy swings her blade to cut off his legs. Dark Link falls to the ground, his face crashing into the ground.

"Shooting Stardust!" Link let's fly his sword beam attack while midair, which completely consumes his evil version. Link lands and keeps his guard up as the smoke clear, and it shows Dark Link is standing completely unharmed. His legs have been reattached too. "What?"

"You're not going to keep defeating me!" Dark Link roars out to the skies. He draws a sword out from his right hand same as the left, and walks towards them both. He then starts running, making it to them in a matter of nanoseconds. Link and Ivy block his next attack, but get thrown away because of him. Link lands and rushes at him with Hyper Dash.

Dark Link sidesteps him, and knees Link in the chest, adding a roundhouse kick to knock him into a tree. He lifts his left blade up to block Ivy's blade. She smiles though and injects energy into it, causing the whip blade to separate into pieces. Each part flies around Dark Link and begins to carve into his body. Dark Link roars and releases darkness from his body, blowing away the sword pieces. He then releases a shockwave that sends Ivy spiraling into the air.

"Ivy!" - Link

"If I kill you I'll have as many shards as I need for my body to stay together! And once you're dead I can finally fully exist!" Dark Link says to him. He then charges at Link, wildly swinging consecutive swipes that occasionally miss. Link manages to evade each of them.

"What's he talking about?" - Ivy

"It's all your fault! All I had to do was kill you, but I've failed each and every time! My body has been falling apart from each of my failures..." Dark Link swings again, blowing Link away into Ivy's arms. He then holds his hand out, revealing a third Soul Edge shard, to Ivy and Link's annoyance. His eyes narrow and he smiles, saying, "And now, I shall finally get what I deserve, and show you both what true terror and hell is...!"

He absorbs the shard in his body, and more darkness rises up. Link states, "He's absorbing another shard!"

"What does he mean by his body?" Ivy asks. The absorption of the shard is so painful though he screams out.

"Dark Link was created by Ganondorf using my blood from the time I fought his phantom. He was an attempt to replicate the Triforce that failed miserably. Dark Link needs to kill me and steal my body so he can exist. I believe Inferno has brought him to life each of those times using Ganondorf's body and Zelda's magic." His body quickly morphs according to all the darkness accumulating inside of him. His body gains a sort of armor similar to Link's Royal Armor, only colored purple and black. "This can't be good."

Dark Link disappears in a flash and comes before the two, swinging hard to knock Ivy away. Link stands up and rushes at Dark Link, but Dark Link comes behind him to jab the butt of his sword into the back of Link's head. He falls to the ground clutching his head in pain, but he is merely using this to keep him off guard, before he slashes Dark Link at his stomach. Nothing happens to him and he kicks Link up in the air, before slashing and leaving an X mark on his chest.

"We can only defeat this guy by removing his shard..." Ivy swings her blade at Dark Link. The attack lops off his head, causing it to float in midair. "You gotta be kidding me!"

Dark Link's head reattaches to his neck. He then swings in an X slash position, releasing a sword beam that hits near Ivy, causing an explosion that sends her to the ground. Dark Link laughs as he looks at her, his red eyes glowing of Soul Edge. Ivy suddenly grabs only her right arm, which is suffering from a major wound she received during that explosion. "As long as I hold these shards I will never be in such danger."

"I can't believe I've fallen to such a despicable person!" Ivy curses as she holds her wounded arm.

"I'll kill you first. Link will have no one to hide behind once you're gone," Dark Link says, lifting his sword up in the air.

"Hyper Dash!" Link comes charging in from Dark Link's right side, but he steps back to avoid the running stab.

"Too slow!" Dark Link stabs at Link with his right blade. Link leaps at Ivy and falls with her to the ground, his back pierced by the black sword. He pulls his blade out and watches them fall to the ground.

"Ivy, are you okay?" He asks her.

"How can you ask me that? You're getting the most damage!" Ivy shouts at him. Link holds her tightly and rolls along the plains, avoiding Dark Link's next stab. As they were rolling she blushes a little at how close they were, something she didn't even realize. Link releases Ivy and stands back up, panting and trying his best to stay up. The Triforce begins to glow on his left hand.

Dark Link sends another sword beam at them, one so fast he doesn't have time to reach his Mirror Shield for. So instead he leans down at grabs Ivy, taking the blow himself. "Hylian!"

"When you're facing absolute power, all techniques are useless!" DL states in a chuckling voice as he stomps over to Link and Ivy.

Link looks down at Ivy before laying her down, and stands up to face the demon. He then speaks, "You're wrong."

"Eh? Just how am I wrong?" He growls, swinging his sword to release a streak of black energy. Link uses the Hylian Shield to block, but it gets destroyed and he slides back along the ground. "Tell me!"

"You've obsessed so much over your precious power that you can't copy me anymore. I've already found a weak point to exploit," Explains Link as he lifts the Master Sword over his shoulder.

"Is that so? Then bring it!" Dark Link says to him, charging with his blade prepared to cut him up.

Link slides underneath him and makes a horizontal swing to his stomach. This cuts Dark Link in half, but even after falling to the ground he repairs himself. Link then stands up and makes a hard slash, cutting off Dark Link's left arm just as he prepares to use his sword. The hand with the sword falls to the ground, glowing a bright red.

"I figured as much. You moved the shards of Soul Edge to your left hand, knowing it would be the last place I would aim for," he explains, looking at Dark Link's hand. He walks over to it slowly, ignoring his wounds for the moment.

"You bastard-" Dark Link growls as he falls to his hand and knees. "-Fine! Go ahead! I'll come back; I ALWAYS COME BACK!"

"Of course you will," Link mumbles, before stabbing his blade into the hand. Dark Link freezes up, and red cracks appear all over his body. Light builds up and flashes from the cracks before he suddenly explodes, turning into black dust. It expands and covers both Ivy and Link, before fading away into the atmosphere. "But it won't be today."

The hand evaporates into dust and leaves behind a big shard of Soul Edge, most likely from the others coming together. He sighs and pulls his sword up, sheathing it away. Beside him is his Magic Armor, now free from the spell. He places it inside of his bag. "That's the end of my copy."

"Hylian! You knew about his weakpoint all along?" Ivy questions him as she stands up.

"I had a feeling; Dark Link is nothing more than a copy of me, a mirror image. Other than his personality he's me down to a t," he explains, speaking slowly because of the blood filling his lungs. He soon falls backwards.

"Hylian!" Ivy leans down on her knees by his side. "What's wrong?"

Link blinks a bit and turns to Ivy, saying, "The mark on my left hand is the source of the Triforce's power. I figured that bastard would do the same thing and use his left hand. It was a gamble I didn't bother to pursue, but thanks to you I was able to discern it."

"What are you talking about? I just cut his head off!" - Ivy

"The same thing would've happened. I had hit him in every spot I could think of for a man to die, and the head was the only thing left," he says before closing his eyes.

"Hey, wake up! I refuse to be indebted to a dead man!" she screams at him, pushing the man to get him awake.

"Sorry, can't move. Guess I didn't expect that last shard to do so much damage," he says. "We still got to get the dragon venom. I'll stay here and take a nap."

"No, you're coming with me! If you stay here you're liable to getting ambushed and killed! And I promised that damn ninja I would be responsible for you!" She states, lifting up the Hylian on her back. She then carries him off to the mountains, where the rumored dragon lives.

...

"He's finished," Gel-O-Fury says as she watches Raphael screaming and oozing blood. Red energy continues to surge through his body until it morphs him rapidly into a horrid monster. "You're a fool too, Raphael."

* * *

Yusei: The chapter ends with this. Next time, Link fights Volvagia, and returns to Wolfkrone with the others... Unfortunately, shit has gone down since they were gone. Three words; Ra-Pha-El.


	33. Supernova

**_A Love Forged_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, Soul Calibur, Smash Bros, or Metroid. Yes, Metroid was a part of this story.

Dante: Welcome to chapter... 33. How many are left?

Julia: As many as there needs to be to cover everything; before this story can end, we need to conclude the battle with Soul Edge, what happens to Zasalamel, Soul Calibur's fate and who Edge Master truly is.

Dante: Damn. That'd be another ten chapters, maybe... But let's focus on what's going on this chapter.

Julia: Link and Ivy head for the volcano and steal Volvagia's venom, before he leaves with his friends to Wolfkrone. Unfortunately, shit has gone down there.

_**Chapter 33: Supernova**_

* * *

"Run!" Cassandra shouts as she, Hilde and Dampierre run out of a temple. Cassie and Dampierre are holding a stone statue head of the Greek God of Forge, Hephaestus. Chasing them are a group of officers.

"Get back here you sinful thieves! You shall be burned at the stake!" One of them says.

"That doesn't make me want to stop!" Cassandra exclaims. After traveling they manage to find a place close by to Greece that worshiped their gods. Luckily they found a statue of Hephaestus, and after Cassandra cut its head off, they end up in this situation.

Elsewhere...

"You're really okay with us taking a piece of your beard?" Taki asks Edge Master. The two of them are standing at the front of a Shaolin temple, somewhere in Europe somehow.

"Of course. Hair grows back," The old man says, using a knife to cut off some of his beard. He hands it over to Taki, who places it inside of a container. "So, how's Link?"

"He's still okay if you wanted to know. Of course, there was this one incident where he snapped at some lizardmen," Taki explains.

"Hey, you coming or not?" Mitsurugi yells at her, standing away from his horse.

"Give me a minute you selfish bastard!" Taki exclaims.

"Then it's happening..." he mutters, intriguing the ninja. "Just make sure he stays calm... also, tell him to come see me in Hyrule after Soul Edge is destroyed. There is something he has to know before his adventure truly ends."

"What?" Taki asks.

"That's only for him to know. Tell him to go to Hyrule Castle, or their remains." With that Edge Master throws a Deku nut to the ground, escaping in the flash.

...

Ivy wrings out a wet cloth and places it over Link's forehead. He's still resting on his sleeping bag ever since he got attacked by Dark Link. He doesn't seem to be fully awake either, what with his eyes closed. Ivy sighs as she looks at him. "He put himself through so much just to stop that other him... I guess Hylians are just as foolish as humans..."

Ivy looks at his bag of items, and digs her left hand inside. She pulls out a box that held the shards of Soul Edge he took from Dark Link. Opening it and snapping off a piece of the shard, she now holds a shard in her right hand. "This shard will do. It'll be temporary, but I'll need a real Valentine over this prototype Ivy Blade..."

Link shifts a little in his sleep, his right hand reaching out to grab Ivy's left unconsciously. He mumbles, "Cassandra..."

Ivy blushes and pulls her unarmored hand away. Her chest suddenly starts pounding as she thinks about the Hylian. "What's with this man?"

"Cassandra..." he whispers again.

Ivy places his box back inside his bag and stands away from Link. "I won't be fooled. I'll leave immediately and capture that venom myself... He'll be safer here than brought to the mountain where that monster might attack him."

Ivy walks towards the volcano, leaving Link asleep and unattended. She continues until she reaches the top of the volcano mountain. Ivy looks down and sees nothing; no dragon, just lava surrounding blackened rocks forming a platform. "There's nothing here... I could have sworn this was the volcano..."

Suddenly the volcano begins to rumble. She grabs hold of the ground to keep her footing, and something rises up from the lava. Flying above her is a serpentine dragon with flaming red hair and two claws. It breathes fire at Ivy, who jumps away and lands on the blackened platform. She looks up back at the dragon, as it comes down at her.

"Revolting lizard... I'll play with you for a little while before I kill you!" Ivy slams her shard into her Ivy Blade, energy releasing from it. The blade transforms, melding into her original Valentine blade. Blue lightning sparks from her body into the sword, reacting to the Soul Edge energy inside of her and the shard.

Ivy swings, slamming the dragon at its back. Unfortunately it bounces back, not harming it at all. "What?"

The dragon releases a stream of flames at her, forcing the woman to jump back. Its tail slams into the volcano's walls, sending rocks the size of a human head at her. She whips her blade around, knocking them away. It breathes fire again.

Ivy whips her blade like a... well, like a whip, spiraling the flames in between. She chants a spell and electricity circles around the flames, forming a ball with both elements. She then sends it back at the dragon, who evades gracefully. The dragon swings its tail, knocking Ivy off the platform and into the side of the mountain. Before she could fall she uses her blade to latch around the dragon's left arm, swinging herself back to safety.

The dragon wiggles its arm free and spits a fireball at her, causing an explosion that separates the platform and knocks her off her footing. Ivy's right hand gets cinged; luckily it was armored so it's only a slight burn. Still her breathing becomes hard and rapid. It seems even with her voluptuous outfit she's a sweaty pig.

"Maybe this was a bad idea..." Ivy says to herself, looking up at the flying dragon. It sends another boulder at her, this one big enough to crush her whole.

"Cosmic Rave!" The stone is slashed in half, falling to her sides and avoiding her. Another figure lands before her, revealed to be Link. He has changed his torn green tunic for his Goron Tunic. "Heh. And I thought I got in trouble every time I was alone."

"What are you doing here? You're still injured you fool!" Ivy shouts at him.

"I get hurt all the time! Besides, you're in no better shape; sweating like an orc stuck in Death Mountain and almost getting squished! It's best that we work together." Link states, looking at the older woman. He holds his right hand out to her.

Giving off a scowl, she grabs hold of it and pulls herself up. "Fine. How did you find this place in the first place?"

"I woke up when I sensed Soul Edge. I followed it here... Was it you?" Link asks her, turning back to the dragon.

"Let's get this over with..." Ivy says, ignoring his question. She swings her blade and wraps it around the dragon's head.

'Is that Volvagia? Another one of my almost future enemies...' Link digs into his bag and takes out the Hero's Bow. "Ivy, try to bring him down to the ground. I'll crack his head open."

"How muscular do you think I am?" she shouts at him. Link sighs and takes hold of her weapon with her, pulling down hard. Link's Triforce activates suddenly though, in reaction to the Soul Edge inside of her weapon, and the energy she's pouring into it.

Volvagia is smashed into the lava. It splashes at them, forcing Link to grab hold of Ivy and form a blue barrier over them. Her heart skips as he holds her once more. The lava passes around them, unable to pierce through the barrier. "Naryu's Love did the trick."

Link turns off the spell and pulls out his bow and an arrow. He shoots the dragon in the eye, causing it immense pain. Volvagia digs into the lava, escaping their view. "Ivy, head back up and guide me."

"You want me to leave you down here?" Ivy questiosn him.

"No! You can get a better look at it from above!" Link explains to her. She sighs and begins to climb up the volcano, using her whip blade. At a higher place she really can see everything. "Now, where are you..."

Volvagia rises up from behind Link. "Behind you!"

Hearing Ivy's warning, Link turns around quickly in time to jump over the dragon's claw. He pockets his bow and takes out his Megaton Hammer, using it to slam down hard onto the dragon's skull. Volvagia flings Link back onto another platform, before slipping under lava. Link stands back up and draws out his Magic Armor. He checks his left hand to see the Triforce is still active, before holding his armor up into the air. He shouts, "Magic Armor," and light releases from his armor.

The light converts into flames, the armor splitting into pieces and following the stream. It goes around his body twice, before the pieces enlarge and reassemble onto his body. His crown is the last thing to materialize, right before he throws his left arm back and flames burst from his back, forming a golden dark red cape, similar in color to his tunic. "Huh... So the Goron Tunic gives this ability..."

Volvagia rises from the magma, breathes in and releases a a stream of fire at Link. "To your right!"

Link turns to face it, the flames not even causing him to flinch. "The Goron's Super Royal Armor gives me immunity to fire. I can also do this," Link says before swinging the Megaton Hammer with one hand and dispersing the flames. He places a hand onto his boots, and they are swapped for the Hover Boots. He slides over the lava towards Volvagia, and slams his hammer down on the dragon's head, knocking it down again.

Volvagia rises up from the lava angrily, holding its impacted skull painfully. Link takes this moment to jabbing the hammer in its stomach several times, ending the combo with a downward slam. The dragon's head gives off a horrible cracking noise. In immense pain, it flies up into the sky, in hopes to escape Link. Link places his Megaton Hammer away, and draws the Master Sword. He steps onto a rock, ignoring the sudden pain in his back, and leaps up into the air. He grabs the dragon's tail and pulls himself onto its back. Link then raises his sword and stabs Volvagia in the skull, forcing a geyser of blood to rocket out the wound.

Volvagia's flaming hair recedes and it falls to the ground, dead. The crash makes a small tremor in the earth. Link pulls his sword out and cancels his transformation. "There."

"That was entirely foolish! Why did you need me if you could handle it?" Ivy questions him as she joins his side.

"You might have gotten hurt. Plus, I need someone to carry me back..." Link says, before he drops to his knees.

"Hylian!" Ivy helps him up. She sees that he has reopened his wounds. "You really are a fool, you know that?"

"I can recover much faster than you think," Link responds. "Besides, I couldn't just stand by and let you die anyway."

"Of course not. You need me to make the potion to save Hilde's father, right?" She states, giving off a cold air around her.

"That's not it!" Link shouts at her, beginning to spit out blood. "Do you really think anyone would be happy that you died? No good can come from someone with a heart dying."

"Don't misunderstand! I'm just some witch everyone in London's afraid of! Even if I died doing the right thing no one would care!" she tells him with a hateful tone.

"...I would. No one can benefit from your death." He states.

"Yeah, says the guy who killed a dragon just now..." Ivy exclaims.

"If you've met that dragon before, you wouldn't say that. Besides, I've never killed anyone I could reason with. Lots of people say I'm a great judge of character," Link says with a grin at that last part.

"That kind of thinking should have killed you a long time ago..." Ivy mutters as she walks over to the dragon. She spots saliva dripping from its teeth, and using a vial she collects it. "The more I see you battle the more I see you as a fool."

"I'd rather be a fool than a hypocrite. This is who I am..." Link states proudly, standing up while ignoring his injuries.

'This is the man who defeated my father?' Ivy asks herself as she finishes collecting the venom. Link falls to his knees again, causing her to chuckle a little. 'He's definitely a fool, but he's not a complete fool... He's much better than the other men I've met...'

"How's the collection going?" Link asks, looking up at Ivy.

"Yeah, it's complete. Let's go." Ivy stumbles over to Link, helping him on her shoulder. "I better fetch you a potion. That ninja would complain too much if she found out about your condition."

"Yeah, Cassandra worries too much too," Link says as they continue towards her mansion in London.

The Next Day...

"I have completed the potion!" Ivy says as she exits her chambers. She holds up a vial with a syringe. "When you find this beast father of yours use this to turn him back. Make sure you inject it near its abdomen or heart, or else the process will be too slow and he'll be put into a coma."

"Thank you!" Hilde says as she reaches out for it. She pulls it back away from her hands.

"I still demand my payment. The price will be this," she says, holding up a piece of paper. Hilde takes it and reads over the number.

"It's much smaller than before. Did he already teach you those spells?" Hilde asks.

"That's not important. Just give me my dues!" Ivy states.

"Come with us to Wolfkrone. You will be paid in full there," Hilde says to her. Taki and Cassandra follow the two girls down the hall outside, where Link, Mitsurugi and Dampierre are waiting. Courtesy of Ivy, Link was given three bottles of potion; red, a weird yellow one, and green. He took a sip of the red and restored his health.

The weirdest thing is, Ivy never asked for him to teach her more spells again. It's like she either forgot or she doesn't care anymore. She also stopped looking at Link, unable to look him in the eye. Cassandra didn't mind though, glad that someone like her isn't interested in her fiance.

"Let's get going then! No horse though!" Mitsurugi says, walking in a direction no where near the right way.

"What's with you and horses?" Link asks him.

"You don't wanna know." Taki states.

The seven of them leave Ivy's castle for Wolfkrone. As they do she continues to watch Link from behind, giving a tense expression. 'Why can't I get my mind off of him?' Link glances back, bringing the woman out of her thoughts.

"Do you feel like you're being watched?" Link asks the others.

"Of course. But when you look this good you gotta get use to it!" Dampierre gloats, twisting his mustache.

"...And when you talk that stupid you gotta get use to THIS!" Hilde shouts before slapping him in the back of his head.

Days Later...

"We're getting much closer!" Taki says as they move closer to Wolfkrone.

"I just hope this potion she made can save my father," Hilde says while clutching the vial.

"You act as if I made it half-assedly," Ivy mutters, ticked that Hilde would even consider doubting. "I have nothing to lose by sabotaging a request."

"Why is there smoke up ahead?" Link asks, pointing up to the skies leading to Wolfkrone. "Also, I'm beginning to sense Soul Edge."

"...Oh no!" Hildegard heads forward first, leaving the others behind. Link chases after her, leading the others to follow. Except for Ivy; she simply stands and watches them go into action.

Once they reach eyesight of the kingdom, Hilde holds her hands to her mouth in shock to see her home ablaze. The castle that once stood tall over Wolfkrone has crumbled down. People are screaming and running, and there's a monstrous howl resonating within. She could only say, "No... What happened..."

"No wonder I sensed Soul Edge..." Link says as he joins her. Hilde turns to him, and sees his eyes have grown intense. "We have to find the others!"

"I'll go ahead!" Taki says, heading forward in the village. Link closes his eyes and begins to think, consentrating hard to try and pick up his friends. Of course, since he can only sense magic and their energies it may be hard to pinpoint them. Even worse, he can't sense Soul Calibur anywhere in the city.

The others head into the village in search of the others, but are stopped when they spot a hairy beast in front of them. The werewolf-like creature howls to the skies, before stalking over to a red haired girl who sprained his right ankle. Link charges forward and kicks the wolf in the head, keeping it away from her. She asks, "You are?"

"Doesn't matter. Just get-" Link turns around to look at her, pausing when he realizes how familiar she is. He then puts two and two together, and says, "You're that girl who was with Raphael... Amy?"

She remains silent as he looks her over, confirming that it's the same girl. Cassandra runs to her and bends down to help her up. "She has a sprained ankle. Can I carry you?"

"No, let go!" she shouts, wiggling out of her grasp. Cassandra lifts her up and carries her away anyway.

"Thanks!" Link says back, drawing the Master Sword. Just as he was about to strike, Hilde grabs hold of his sword arm. "Princess Hilde? What are you doing?"

"Stop! That's my father!" she tells him, slightly surprising the Hylian. Her father lunges at them, swiping and clawing some of Link's shirt. He takes hold of Hilde and rolls out of the way. She then says, "We just have to give him the potion!"

"There he is!" A voice calls out. Link and his friends glance behind the werewolf to see Kilik, Seung Mina and Talim coming towards it. Kilik says, "Hey, they're back."

"Where are the others?" Link asks him.

"They're all fighting Raphael!" he tells him once they meet close up.

"Raphael?" Link asks in shock, before suddenly turning to Amy still in Cassandra's care. "What's going on?"

"Raphael is brimming with Soul Edge's power, so much he can't control it. He's gone nuts!" Kilik says, turning back down the road to where he came from.

"What can we do?" he asks him.

"We'll have to kill him," Mina says, shocking the poor Amy Sorel. "He wasn't a redeemable person before, right? I mean, remember what he did to Link?"

"What about Amy?" Link asks her.

She was about to answer him, but an explosion just to their west goes off. Out from it appears Raphael, sporting a weird form; he has pale skin and red eyes, just like normally, but he also has a dark blue French outfit with a cape that drapes to the ground. He slowly opens his mouth, exposing razor sharp teeth capable of tearing through steel that have blood and saliva oozing. His blood hair has turned white and red, and has a rapier in his left hand that looks like a mutated Flambert. Soul Edge's energy sparks from his body with each step he takes.

"...It's worse than you say... Kilik, can you save him with the mirror shard?" Link asks him.

"...I tried. It only works on the people he's turned into monsters," Kilik says, holding the shard up. "Once he came he began destroying Wolfkrone, attacking people and biting them to make them monsters."

"...That sounds familiar..." Link mutters.

"Hinotama no Jutsu!" Taki fires a ball of flames at Raphael, but he cuts it down with his sword. He then swings, releasing a lightning bolt that travels towards Taki.

She jumps out of the way, rolling upon landing. Maxi, Xianghua, Setsuka and Yun-Seong join them, bringing everyone except for Siegfried back together. Maxi then says, "You guys better be careful! Those two are nothing like those reptiles and skeletons!"

"So, what will you do now, Hylian?" Ivy asks him, looking at the younger man and the two monsters.

Before he could make a response, he realizes something and says, "Where's Siegfried? I don't sense Soul Calibur anywhere."

"He was attacked by Nightmare and was sprung from prison. He chased him west of Wolfkrone. He wanted to take him out once and for all... I think it was a trap," Kilik says.

"...That would make sense... Alright, here's the plan!" Link says, coming up with a plan. "Hilde, you still have the potion, right?"

"It's right here," Hilde says, holding up the vial.

"I'll help you give your father the cure! We'll be better off subduing one monster without the other," Link explains, giving out his plan.

"No, I think you should go after Siegfried," Kilik says to him.

"Huh?" As he says this Raphael charges at them, along with Hilde's father. Mitsurugi draws his sword and takes Raphael, while Taki and Maxi kick the werewolf back. "What are you talking about?"

"Link, you have to go help Siegfried. You're the only one who could possibly give him leverage if this is a trap for him," replies the bo master.

"But what about you guys?" Link asks, looking at all of his friends.

"We'll be fine. We can take care of ourselves," Talim says, smiling in hopes to reassure Link of his worries.

"...I'm not sure if-"

"Link, just go!" Cassandra shouts, still at her position protecting Amy. "It's alright if you leave me in danger! I can fend for myself; I didn't follow you into that forest just so you could protect me!"

Link takes a moment of pause, thinking about what she said. He then sighs, realizing she's right; this danger is nothing like back when they fought against Raphael and Zasalamel's army. She's at risk here, and despite having experience in fighting the new Raphael is much stronger. Plus if it is a trap then there could be more trouble. Still, the more he thinks about it the more he realizes he's being overprotective of her, something that he normally doesn't do.

Link turns west, and walks towards the exit of Wolfkrone. "Good luck Cassandra."

As he leaves, Cassandra sighs while moving between Raphael and Amy. The vampiric nobleman glares at her, and spots Amy behind her. In a grumbled tone he growls, "Amy!" With a swing of Flambert he repels Mitsurugi and charges at her. Cassandra lifts his weapons up, prepared to face him. Talim and Mina head towards Raphael to stop him, but he reaches Cassandra and swings.

She raises her shield and blocks, kicking him in the back of the knee, but he stands firm and pushes her left arm. She turns because of it and he grips her by the shoulders, leaning down and biting down on her neck. Soul Edge's energy tries to force itself into her body, but it's suddenly repelled and Raphael is forced away. Cassandra cuts him at his chest and spin kicks him in the face.

"Did you just bite me?" she shouts at him.

Kilik and Taki glance at Cassandra in shock. Kilik could only think, 'That's amazing... She was able to repel Soul Edge's power.'

'The Triforce protected her just like Link.' Taki says in her head before returning to her fight.

Ostrheinburg...

Link continues running towards the city as fast as he could; the Master Sword in his left hand and the Mirror Shield in the right. His mind is plagued with worries for Cassandra, despite the fact that she has friends to protect her. It's distracting to say the least, so much so he hits something. Link backs away in pain, mumbling and cursing in Hylian at his damaged nose. "What the?"

Link reaches his hand out in front of him, and it presses up against an invisible wall. "A barrier... Damn, I can't cut through without that Yuga shard!"

Frustrated, Link leans back on the wall to think of a way in. On the other side the image of what appears to be a man spots him there, and with a smirk he waves his hand. Link slips through the forcefield, hitting his head on a rock. "GAH! What in the world?"

He picks his head up and looks in front of him, the air around him looking rather wavy. It's as if there's an intense heat nearby. He turns around and flinches in surprise upon seeing what he believes to be an incredibly large tower over a pool of lava, "Huh... Was that always there?"

Link stands up and walks further into the city. As he does he doesn't see a single form of life nearby. 'This can't be good,' he thinks as he keeps moving. 'I can sense Soul Edge all over, but it's mostly coming from two points. One is up in that castle-' He looks up at the demonic castle inside of the pool of lava only a few yards ahead. '-And the other source is to my right... Wait, I sense Soul Calibur too... Siegfried is probably fighting and needs my help!'

Link lifts his left fist up in the air, activating his Triforce. Looking down he sees he's wearing the Goron Tunic. 'I'll change and see what the Zora Tunic does,' he thinks before putting his weapons down to take off his tunic. After changing with the blue Zora Tunic and putting the red one away he takes hold of the Mirror Shield and digs into his bag, taking out his Magic Armor. He activates it and transforms, a swirl of water going around him and assembling his armor on. Once his crown forms he throws his left hand back, and water shoots out from his back to form a cobalt/gold cape with the Triforce symbol on it.

He grabs hold of the Master Sword and charges ahead, his blue and gold armor ready for battle. Link kicks a door down to a chapel, where he spots Siegfried adorn in his crystal armor resting in a seat. "Siegfried!"

"Link, what are you doing here? How did you get through the barrier?" he asks, focusing his blue eyes on the elfen warrior. "We were unable to pass through."

"We?" Siegfried points behind him, where he spots Nightmare sitting just as Siegfried is. "Soul Edge?"

"**Nice to see you too, Hylian,**" he bellows, his red eyes glowing as he stares at him.

"Siegfried, what's he doing here?" Link asks, confused to the whole situation. "Why aren't you guys fighting?"

"Well, for starters I guess I should say-" Siegfried says before he picks himself up, pointing out the stain glass window. "-he's not the one who made that tower."

"Eh?" Link exclaims.

"We're both caught in a trap; a man has been resurrected, and he's using his powers to keep us here..." he explains, hoping he would be caught up.

"**Algol,**" Nightmare says, gaining their attention. "**He is the Hero King, a godlike warrior who used to wield me in the past. He was the only human who could suppress my control, and used me to spread peace throughout the world. After some incidents he died, leaving his legacy behind.**"

"Legacy? Look, I don't really want to know all about that, but how did he revive? And how did he get here?" Link asks finally.

"**You ask allot of questions for a Hylian.**" Nightmare states.

"He was revived when the energies of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur clashed. It created an intense force that destroyed Zasalamel and revived Algol," Siegfried explains to Link. "It was more than enough for him to create a body from and with it did this much damage, although the city was already bad when I came."

"Zasalamel?" Link asks.

"**That fool was up to something... He flung himself in the middle of our clash, and his body was turned to black dust trying to absorb both energies of the weapons,**" Nightmare says, grumbling out a chuckle. "**Whatever he was planning failed. He's gone forever.**"

'What _was_ he planning?' Link thinks as he begins to ponder Zasalamel's intentions.

"**Anyway-**" Nightmare begins as he stands back up. "**-I've stored enough energy to fight back. He was too much for us to face.**"

"I'm actually glad you came, Link," Siegfried adds, standing up as well. "The three of us should do much better against him."

"You mean this guy is so strong you two had to team up?" Link asks as his last question. They all nod.

"**Once this is over I'll slaughter both of you at once!**" Nightmare promises to him.

"...Whatever..." Siegfried says, hoisting Soul Calibur on his shoulder. "That's how it is. Ready?"

"Of course!" The three of them head for the exit, Nightmare making his own exit by busting through a wall. They look up at the tower, prepared to go straight into danger. Link looks down at his right hand, clenching it tightly. 'I have enough magic to go around. If I need to I'll use the green potion.'

Up in the tower, at the highest room, a man rests on a cobra shaped throne, with blood on it. He has spiked shoes that rise up to his knees, armor on his chest in a design similar to his shoes, and a tall blue drape on his back. His left hand which holds his head up has a light blue glow, while the right hand that twirls what looks like Soul Edge is as red as Soul Edge. He has snow white hair that looks like it's fire, his skin is more tan than tree bark, and his eyes are white; just like Cervantes. He sighs and glances out the window, his right eyebrow twitching suddenly.

"Ara, another soul has entered my domain... This one is strong... Still, he'll only get in the way of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur coming in my grasp."

* * *

Kenshin: And this ends this chapter.


	34. Descend, The Demon Emperor

**_A Love Forged_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, Soul Calibur, Smash Bros, or Metroid. Yes, Metroid was a part of this story.

Dante: Hello everyone. This is the 34th chapter. Here Link will face off against Algol with the help of Siegfried and Nightmare. What could be his true intentions, and where did he come from?

Julia: I'm pretty sure we all know where he came from.

Dante: Maybe, but some people here might not have played SCIV.

**_Chapter 34: Descend, The Emperor Demon!_**

* * *

_"I have found you, Nightmare," Siegfried says as he walks further into the city of_ Ostrheinsburg_. In the middle of the city stands the Azure Knight Nightmare. He lifts his head to see his former host walking towards him. _

_"**So, you've finally come. How was my little gift?**" Nightmare asks him, walking over to him while dragging Soul Edge along the ground. Red sparks release as he walks.  
_

_"Shut up! What did you do to Raphael?" he asks, glaring at the evil knight._

_"**I just gave him a little punishment. Unfortunately, he couldn't take it and became a monster. He can't even recognize his adoptive daughter!**" Nightmare laughs as he approaches him. _

_"You monster! I will end you here and now!" Siegfried says, lifting Soul Calibur over his head. Nightmare growls and runs at him, still dragging himself. In the shadows, a figure can be seen watching them._

_Once Nightmare is in range Siegfried swings down, releasing pure energy from Soul Calibur. Nightmare lifts up Soul Edge, swinging and expelling demonic energy to counter. Both energies collide with one another, and mix together, creating a struggle of power that blows them away. The wind howls and the ground breaks upon their clash, the force of both weapons being too much. The figure from before leaps out of the shadows and jumps into the middle of the explosion, holding both hands out. _

_"**Zasalamel?**" Nightmare speaks in shock._

_'Him again?' Siegfried exclaims in his head._

_The energies of both of the soul swords enter into his body, giving him a light blue/red glow. Zasalamel chuckles evilly as he absorbs their energy, before cracks begin to form on his body. From the cracks red and blue light glow out from them, before they mix into purple. "I've finally reached my goal. Goodday, gentlemen!"_

_He laughs maniacally before suddenly his whole body is riddled with purple glowing cracks. Finally he explodes, turning into black dust. Siegfried shields his eyes from the explosion, Nightmare being unaffected. Sieg then asks, "What was he trying to do? He's gone."_

_"**Good riddance,**" Nightmare says before turning his attention to Siegfried. He swings at him, forcing the knight to block. "**You're going to end up just like him in a few seconds once I take back my shards from Soul Calibur!**"_

_"What?" Siegfried pushes him back and kicks him in the center of his energy source. Nightmare stumbles back on his feet and glares at him. "What do you mean by that?"_

_"You don't need to know," Nightmare says as he stands back up._

_Before Siegfried could make a reaction, Soul Calibur glows brightly. He looks down at his sword and sees the aura beginning to take form. Its blue glow becomes purple as the shape becomes human. The shape growls, forcing both knights back. The shape soon gains color, becoming fully human. _

_Nightmare growls as he recognizes the person. "**You!**"  
_

Back To Action...

Link, Siegfried, and Nightmare continue prodding towards the tower plastered in the middle of the city. The tower just ahead, they waste no time reaching it. Link kicks the door open and enters inside, holding the Master Sword with both hands. "I can sense both your weapons at the top."

"Then let's go," Siegfried goes to the stairway heading to the top, with Nightmare and Link following behind in that order. It's best this way so as to make sure Nightmare didn't try anything.

"...What's the hero king like? Is he really that strong?" Link asks, looking up at the two knights.

"Are you kidding? He's ruthless!" Siegfried tells him. "We both fought him, so you can tell how strong he is."

"**He's always been like that. That's why Soul Calibur is tainted with his hatred,**" Nightmare mutters to himself. Siegfried couldn't pick up exactly what he said, but Link could. The blond elf looks along the sides of the walls, seeing someone has dragged their nails along it.

'Did Algol do this?'

Upstairs at the top level, Algol sits on his throne. He patiently awaits his opponents, knowing when they show he'll have everything he needs. 'Maybe I'll send an illusion to hurry things up.'

His right arm forms crystals, allowing his left to pull one out. He then infused Soul Edge's energy into it, and tosses it to the ground. The crystal transforms, rising and turning into a black Dark Nut. He does this two more times, forming a red and a blue Dark Nuts. "Go entertain our guests while I get ready."

They each head down the steps, going after the guests. As they leave, Algol couldn't help but wonder, "What are those things anyway?"

The knight-like warriors make it to the second to top level, entering into an empty room. Siegfried spots another set of stairs on the other side of a door at the end of the room, but before they could go there the sound of heavy, thumping footsteps walking down them. The knights raise their weapons, and come face to face with three Dark Nuts. Link says, "What the? Are you sure he's not working for you?"

"**Dark Nuts are nothing more than reanimated souls given form. Anyone with the proper spell and evil energy can do it,**" Nightmare says to them. The door behind them forms gates to prevent their escape. "**It wouldn't be a surprise if Algol could make them.**"

"Let's get rid of them then!" Siegfried swings, releasing crystal spears at one of the nuts. They each raise their shields, blocking the assault. Link takes this chance to sneak in and knock away the black's shield.

The blue Dark Nut lifts his sword and swings down at Link, who sidesteps and jumps over him and swings to knock off his helmet. Link then kicks his back and rolls out of the way. He heads up the stairs, saying, "Hey, come this way! You freak!"

The blue nut follows after Link, who dashes up the stairs. Siegfried slashes at the black one, chipping off its body armor. He then swings and releases crystals, but its shield blocks them. Nightmare punches the red one in the face, knocking its shield away. Without its defense it raises its sword with both hands.

The blue nut continues up the stairs, following after Link. Since it's a spiraling staircase that rounds the entire castle, like all the others Link's been to especially considering Ganondorf's palace, it doesn't see Link anymore. It remains like this, until Link comes running down with the Megaton Hammer, smashing into the nut's face. The Dark Nut falls back and rolls, bounces, breaks apart as it falls to the other room. Link jumps on the warrior's body, and smashes his head in. Afterwards, the warrior turns into crystals and explodes, leaving nothing left.

"Takes care of that," Link says as he puts his weapon back.

"So, it is a Hylian," a voice speaks. Link turns around and quickly backs away when he sees that it's Algol. He levitates in front of Link before landing, taking note of his ears and the Triforce. "I was wondering who was the powerful energy source that came in; it was a mixture of demon and pure energy."

"Algol, right? What brings you here?" Link asks him, pointing the Master Sword at doesn't react at all to the fact that he said he has demon energy.

"An amazing sword you have there, but it only looks sharp I bet." Algol holds his left hand up in the air, and Soul Calibur is formed as his hand.

"Soul Calibur?" Link concentrates and can clearly sense that it's Soul Calibur's proper energy signal.

"He can recreate Soul Edge and Soul Calibur using the energy he absorbed and by memory," Siegfried tells him. Algol swings at Link, releasing a blue shockwave of energy at him. He lifts the Mirror Shield and reflects it back.

Algol's left hand returns to that of a hand and he grabs hold of the energy. It reabsorbs into his hand. "Nice try... There's no way you can use my powers against me."

"Damn!" Link puts away his shield and holds up his blade. Algol holds out his right hand and forms Soul Edge. He then swings, leaving Link to block and parry his blow. Link takes a step forward and then stabs him in the chest, but he grabs the blade with his left hand.

Algol's right sword arm turns into a cannon barrel and fires a blast of demonic energy, blowing Link away. The attack was so strong he releases his sword and crashes into a wall. After falling he picks himself up, just in time to see Algol charging up more. He fires off several energy blasts with Soul Edge's power, covering Link in explosions.

Siegfried slays his knight opponent just in time to see Link's fate. "Link!"

"**Pathetic. I might have overestimated his abilities**," Nightmare grumbles after he stomps his foe into the ground.

The smoke clears, revealing Link covered in Naryu's Love. It has successfully protected him from Algol's attack. It dispels and Link falls down to one knee, breathing slowly and noticeably. "There... I can take anything you can throw at me..." 'I can't believe he hurt me this much with my armor on...'

"Can you keep this up?" Algol forms a hooked blade on his right arm and flies towards Link. Nightmare takes this moment to leap in the air and slash down at Algol. He forms a shield with Soul Calibur, effectively blocking it. He then grabs Soul Edge with his right hand, drawing out red energy. "I think you two coming was a terrible mistake. Even with both of you can't hope to defeat me!"

"That's why there are three of us; Diamond Spear Wave!" Siegfried fires crystals from Soul Calibur, repelling him from Nightmare and Link. The spikes protrude out of his body like porcupine needles, which he expels by shouting and tightening his muscles. The Hylian takes this moment to run towards his sword, rolling to grab it. Link then stands and swings, releasing Shooting Stardust at Algol.

Bladed wings extend from Algol's back, illuminating Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's energies. He then takes flight, escaping Link's assault. Siegfried hoists his sword over his head and swings, firing an energy wave. Algol blocks the attack with his left hand, absorbing its energy. "That was an impressive move earlier... I think I'll try it."

"Uh oh..." Siegfried raises Soul Calibur, and Nightmare and Link take this moment to prepare.

"Diamond Spear Wave!" Algol fires diamonds from his left hand. This swarm is much larger than Siegfried's unfortunately.

Link stands before the ground and punches the ground, releasing a fire shield that manages to deflect most of them. When the flames die out, Link begins breathing much harder now. "Din's Fire did the trick, but I won't be able to keep them up."

"The crystals may have the same property and wavelengths as diamonds, but they're not as hard. Look for an opening in his movements," Sieg says to Link.

Algol's blade wings extend and fly towards our heroes. Link jumps on one and leaps up at the Hero King. He extends a blade from his right arm and cuts at Link's left shoulder. He ignores the pain and grabs hold of the blade, using it to pull himself towards the king. Close up, Link performs his Spin Attack, adding Cosmic Rave to the sword to increase his power. The attack knocks Algol out of the sky, where Nightmare has him in his sights. The Azure Knight gathers flames around Soul Edge and swings, sending pillars of fire up at the falling warrior.

Link hits the floor and rolls, preventing himself from getting hurt. Siegfried then conjures more crystals and swings, shouting, "Diamond Spear Blast," and fires an energy wave composed of diamond spikes. Algol gets hit by both attacks at the same time, extending his arms out to block their attacks. He gets caught in an explosion composed of both sword's energies, and crashes to the ground covered in smoke and flames, and crystal spikes.

He stands to his feet and roars, repelling the fire and the spikes from his body. Link looks at the wounds made and sees no blood. "He's not bleeding."

"I will destroy any who stands in my way!" Algol fires diamond spears at Nightmare. He raises his right arm and blocks, but the eye on Soul Edge is struck and brings great pain to the azure knight.

Siegfried charges at Algol, aiming to stab his weapon forward. Algol holds his hand out, muttering, "You don't learn, do you?"

"Maybe..." Siegfried stops and rolls out of the way, and from behind him leaps Link, who comes down at him with a jump attack.

Algol blocks the attack using a shield from his left arm, but the part Link cuts shatters. "You can't absorb my attacks, can you?"

"You..." Algol backs away to avoid another slash, his chin getting nicked. Algol grabs hold of Link by his head and tosses him away, just as Siegfried comes in to attack from behind. He swings at his right side, knowing he can't absorb Soul Calibur's powers from there. Algol turns his right hand into a barrel and fires at the sword itself, not Siegfried. Soul Calibur is showered with Soul Edge blasts.

When one blast hits the blue core, Siegfried's body reacts badly. He screams out in pain, falling down to his knees. Link turns to his friend, calling out, "Siegfried! What's wrong?"

"Soul Calibur... When it gets hurt, I get hurt too!" Siegfried says to him, spitting up blood afterwards.

"**Your body has been linked ever since you've absorbed Claire,**" Nightmare says to Link, picking himself up.

"Ah yes, the other spirit that resides inside of Soul Calibur." Link turns his head to Algol to listen to him. "She became the first wielder of Soul Calibur after I made it, right?"

"What?" Link exclaims.

"Prepare yourselves." Algol flies at Link and forms a fork-like blade with his right hand, trapping Link into a wall. He then fires Soul Calibur blasts at Nightmare, knocking the sword out of his hand. After releasing Link Algol kicks him into the wall, leaving an imprint, and fires Soul Edge blasts at Siegfried.

Having dropped the Master Sword, Link pulls himself to his feet, seeing that he has rendered Nightmare and Siegfried powerless. He digs into his bag and pulls out his bow and an arrow, but Algol grips him by the throat. 'I didn't think he'd be this strong! Even Ganondorf wasn't this powerful when he had Soul Edge!'

"I'll kill you first. They can't do anything without you." Algol tosses Link to the ground and holds his right hand up above him. The ceiling shatters and down comes his throne. It smashes down onto Link's body, knocking him out cold. His armor remaining and the Triforce faintly glowing, Link's body remains motionless as Algol sits on his throne and watches his blood trickle from underneath.

"Link?" Siegfried uses Soul Calibur to pick himself up, his eyes widening in shock as he sees Link's blood flowing.

"Next challenger?" Algol says, awaiting the next person to attack him.

"You... YOU BASTARD!" Siegfried swings and releases Diamond Spear Wave. Algol takes flight and avoids the spikes, his chair demolished in the process.

"It's no big loss. I'll just construct a second one," he says before extending his blade wings. Siegfried runs to Link, seeing his eyes are still open and have turned clear white. He feels a faint pulse from his neck too, proof that he's still alive.

Wolfkrone...

Raphael lunges at Mitsurugi, kicking him hard in the face. The samurai stands back up and slashes, releasing a lightning streak towards Raphael. The vampiric swordsman moves at a high speed, so fast he's like an afterimage, and avoids the lightning attack. Raphael then stabs at the samurai, who raises his sheath to deflect the blade.

Mitsurugi's next move has him swinging his katana sideways at him. Raphael moves at high speed once more, evading his strike. Cassandra though comes at him from behind, ready to run him through. But before she could, an image of Link flashes through her mind. She stops for a moment and looks down at her left hand, which holds the Triforce. "Link?"

"Cassandra!" Kilik shouts, taking her out of her thoughts. Raphael turns around and lunges at her.

Ostrheinsburg...

_A young Link walks through a lovely plain towards what seems to be the only tree around. By the tree he spots a kid sitting under it. He raises his head up to him, revealing a heart shaped mask with strange yellow eyes and spikes on the side. "You again."_

_"Everyone has gone away, haven't they?" he asks the Hylian._

_"Huh?" he asks, confused he would say something like that. "You mean your mask friends?"_

_"Will you play...with me?" the mask asks him. _

_Link sighs and agrees, saying, "Fine, I'll play with you. But if I win I get to return you to the mask salesman."_

_"Fine. But, you don't have anymore masks with you, right?" The masked child stands up. "I know! We can play demon! I'll be it, and you play the nasty, evil demon!"_

_"What?" The mask hands Link a weird looking mask. It looks like a Hylian's face with warpaint on it. "What is this?"  
_

_ A bright light releases from his eyes, and Link is taken someplace. There he comes to a room covered by four walls. Four masks release from his body towards the walls, and the heart mask from earlier floats to him. "Let's end this, Majora's Mask."_

_Link's battle escalates full scale. The other four masks join into battle, but Link manages to defeat them. Soon Majora's mask rises and gains arms and legs. That's when the tide of battle turns, and Link begins overwhelmed, but he manages to stick forward and defeat the mask. But soon it takes on a third form, one much more horrid than the other two. _

_Link digs into his bag and holds out the mask he was just given, Fierce Deity's Mask. 'I can feel something evil coming from it... But, it looks like I don't have a choice in the matter... I hope nothing bad happens!'_

_Link puts the mask on his face, and the familiar sensation of pain and energy goes through his body. This time however, the pain doesn't subside, even after the transformation. Link growls out and lunges at Majora's Mask, dodging his tentacles and spinners. Link clenches his left hand, and a double helix sword appears there. He swings, releasing a stream of energy in the form of a spiraling drill towards Majora. It damages the mask and it roars, whipping and extending a tentacle at him. Link grabs his right tentacle and pulls him forward. Majora stomps on the ground, breaking the ground and roaring in his face. Link growls back, stomping with his left foot to keep his footing and destroying the ground even further, and heaving the giant sword over his shoulder. _

_He swings down, slicing off his right arm/tentacle. The sword also cuts the wall behind the mask and the floor underneath them. Majora roars out in pain as he releases tiny tentacles to try and repair himself. Link on the other hand drops the tentacle in his hand and uppercuts the mask in the chin, sending him into the air. Dark energy releases from his body as Link wields his blade with both hands. He then swings, releasing a shockwave that slips Majora in half. A glowing red chip falls out from the mask's body, in the middle of where it was cut, and the mask reverts to normal. _

_Link takes a moment breath a sigh of relief, the huge weight on his chest released. "Good. It's finally over."_

_"Is that so?" Link turns around when he heard a voice talking to him. That's when his body begins to feel strange. The darkness inside of him continues to grow, and Link drops the blade. He grabs his head with both hands and screams in pain.  
_

_Afterwards, everything goes black for him.  
_

_"...Huh? Where am I?" Link asks himself as he opens his eyes while rising up from whatever bed he was on. Looking around he sees that he's in Zelda's bedroom, his body is covered in injuries, bruises and bandages. He tries to move his left arm, but immediately cringes in pain. "Ah! I don't remember that wound!"_

_"Link!" Link turns to the bedroom door and sees Zelda coming in. She rushes over to his side and hugs him. _

_"Zelda? What happened?" he asks her, pushing her off his wounded chest. _

_"Link... I'm so sorry... I put you into such a terrible situation. I'm sorry!" she cries, tears coming down her eyes. _

_"Zelda, what happened? Why is my body so badly beaten?" he asks, looking up at her. She continues to cry, even as she looks at him. "Zelda?"_

Siegfried swings down hard at Algol, but he moves to the side and punches him in the stomach, busting through his armor. The crystal knight falls down on one knee, clutching his injured stomach. "Damn...It won't end like this. I won't be defeated!"

"**You foolish human! As much as I want the despicable shackles that hold me down to disappear, your defeat at the moment is outside my interest!**" Nightmare bellows as he stands back up.

"This isn't defeat..." Algol says, grabbing Siegfried by his throat and smashing him into a wall. His right hand rears back to form spikes while his left hand continues to drain Soul Calibur's energy from his body. "It's death!"

Algol throws a punch at Siegfried, who braces for impact. After a few seconds he realizes nothing's happened and opens his eyes. Algol is trying to pierce his skull, but his hand doesn't seem to be budging a bit. He turns around and gets caught in a close line attack. It's so strong he drops Siegfried and crashes onto the ground.

Siegfried falls to his knees and looks up, spotting the person who saved him is Link. He's covered in his blood but he's somehow standing. Siegfried sighs in relief knowing he's okay, something he's sure Cassandra would be tremendously happy for, but as he looks at him he begins to notice something's up. "Link?"

Link has snow white hair that extends so far it blows away his hat. His face has red paint over his eyes and a blue V painted on his forehead. His eyes are also clear white, the kind of eyes Sieg recognizes in Cervantes. Link grits his teeth and roars, dark energy releasing from his body. The Triforce on his hand is covered by darkness and repressed into his body. The blue colors of his armor changes, turning purple and white.

"What's going on?" Siegfried asks as he shields himself from the energy being released.

"**That demonic power... It feels so familiar...**" Nightmare mutters to himself as he watches the Hylian.

"How interesting," Algol says as he looks at him.

Link's dark energy retreats back inside of him, some slowly being released as he glares at the others. He then smirks and chuckles, turning it into a full blown laughter. "The seal is finally gone! I can do whatever I want now!"

"Who the hell are you?" Algol questions Link, who stops laughing.

"Yeah, that's what I was hoping to ask you." Link takes a moment to pause, placing a hand on the side of his head.

Algol flies at Link with Soul Calibur's blade at the ready. Link simply raises his other hand and grabs the blade. "What?"

"...Ah, now I see. You're trying to kill my host," he says, turning to Algol. The Hero King tries to move his sword, but Link seems to have him completely immobile. "Unfortunately, I can't have that. I'm going to need you to die."

"Don't fuck with me." Algol turns to the left, ramming Link with his wing blades. Link kicks Algol in the stomach and leans back to avoid the blades. He then grabs them and jerks back, tossing Algol into the sky.

"Double Helix Sword." Link holds his right hand out, summoning a spiraling helix of energy. It crosses over by his hand, transforming into a giant sword. He lifts it with a single heave and swings, releasing a kenatsu that Algol barely manages to dodge. It slices off the left wing completely, causing them to disperse. The sword beam also slices off part of the castle. He grins, saying, "Still got it!"

"Link, what's happened to you?" Siegfried shouts to him.

"Link's taking a nap right now. He won't be doing anything for a while. If it goes well, forever!" 'Link' swings, releasing a second kenatsu at Algol, clipping his other wing. The Hero King falls to the ground, crashing and busting up the hard ground.

"Who are you?" Siegfried questions him, trying to stand up to his feet.

'Link' turns to Siegfried and laughs, before punching the ground. The floor shatters and crumbles leaving all four of them to fall down below. 'Link' grins evilly and laughs, landing a drop kick to Algol as they fall. He then grabs him by the throat, pushing him against the walls and dragging him down as they descend. "Giving you my name would be a waste."

* * *

Kenshin: This ends the chapter for now, but there you have it; Oni Link has come back...What should we call him?

Yusei: Let's see... The evil deity inside of a mask, Majora's evil rival, Oni Link, Fierce Deity, Kishin...

Manabu: Let's go with Kishin.

Dante: Next chapter Kishin beats Algol to near death, and Link gains control thanks to the Master Sword. Nightmare and Siegfried have their final battle, and Algol tells Link how Soul Calibur was made.


	35. Siegfried vs Nightmare

_**Chapter 35: Siegfried vs. Nightmare**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, or Metroid. Although that only appeared once, I still think it needs to be mentioned. **glares at lawyers**

Kenshin: So, what happens in this chapter?

Yusei: You should know already.

Kenshin: ...Nope.

* * *

"Take this!" Cassandra kicks Raphael in the face, knocking him to the ground. He rises up from the ground and lunges at her, but Kilik locks him to the ground using his Kali Yuga. Its purifying powers cause Raphael's skin to burn upon contact, but he managers to kick the bo master off of him. 'What's with this guy? He's worse than any monster we've faced before!'

"Out of the way!" Mitsurugi swings his katana at Raphael, pushing Cassie aside. He grabs his sword by the hilt and tosses Mitsurugi into a building, causing him to crash through.

Raphael glares at his surroundings, noticing Kilik, Xianghua, Cassie, Taki and Maxi have gathered around to trap him. His eyes dart at the hiding form of Amy behind a wall. Raphael then lunges at her, his eyes losing their blood red shade. Taki and Maxi stand in his way, but Raph leaps over them at incredible speed and continues towards Amy.

"Look out!" Cassandra instinctively activates the Triforce, and her speed increases as she runs towards Amy. She swings at Raph, slicing his right cheek and then kicking him away. "I don't know what you're pulling but you're not going to get anywhere near her!"

"Wow," Taki whispers as she joins Cassandra's side. "You're starting to sound like Link."

"Heh, thanks," Cassie remarks, blushing a little at the compliment.

"It's no use... we're going to have to kill him," The ninja says as she prepares a jutsu.

"...I see..." Cassandra raises his blade and energy gathers to it. "I'm sorry, Amy."

Amy blinks once hearing Cassandra apologize to her, as the two girls charge at Raphael. As he awakes their move Mitsurugi comes behind him and stabs him in the back. Taki and Cassandra slash at him, leaving an X mark on his chest.

"Hiyaah!" Yun-Seong leaps onto the wolflike beast's back, using his right arm to grab hold of its neck.

"Yun-Seong, get off of him!" Talim tells him, worried that he would get himself hurt.

"Toss over the medicine!" he shouts as the beast tries to shake him off.

"Stuff it down his mouth!" Hilde tosses the vial over to him. Managing to grab it out of pure luck, he uncorks the vial and slips it inside of the monster's mouth. It coughs for a bit before hacking up the vial, its contents already inside of its stomach.

Yun-Seong gets flipped to the ground after one last tug, right into the arms of Mina. Before it could slash them to pieces, it begins choking. The others drop their guards as it begins shrinking to human size, the fur receding inside and its teeth reverting to normal. The wolf finally returns to its true form, that of Hilde's father the king.

"Father!" Hilde runs to her father's side, grabbing his mostly naked form and helping him onto his shoulder.

Raphael releases red sparks from his body, repelling both Cassandra and Taki. They land on their behinds and look up at the enraged nobleman. Growling, he leaps in the air at Amy, but Kilik manages to knock him down by throwing the Kali Yuga like a pole. It strikes him in the back, in the exact same spot as before, and he plummets down painfully. Cassandra runs to Amy, "Let's go! He's after you!"

"Why are you helping me? He's just going to kill you all and then me," she says to her, showing no bit of fear in her eyes. 'It's the same as always; someone I claimed to care for me will soon change their mind and come kill me! Father was the only one I could accept, and now he wants me dead...'

"So you just want me to let you die?" Cassandra asks her, as Taki holds Raphael back. Amy nods yes, angering the Greek even more. "How is that okay?"

"Father was the only one who cared about me! If he wants to kill me then let him! It'll be one less burden for you-"

Cassandra slaps Amy across the cheek. Her body tilts from the hit and she grabs her cheek in pain, the impact site redder than the hair on her head. Raphael's head suddenly shoots up upon seeing that. Cassandra then yells, "HOW THE FUCK CAN IT BE OKAY FOR ANYONE TO GET HURT?"

"You-You don't know what I've been through-"

"I DON'T CARE! If you're going to complain about living then that's fine, but don't go killing yourself in front of me! I would never forgive myself if something terrible like that happened," she yells at her, the blond's anger reaching the little girl.

Raphael releases red energy to repel Taki and jets for Cassandra, ignoring his injuries. Cassandra picks up her sword and steps to the left, pushing Amy out of the way and jabbing him in the air. Of course his strike manages to pierce her lower abdomen, but she didn't care at the moment. Raphael grabs hold of his eye painfully, more of Soul Edge's darkness leaking out of his body.

"Time to die!" Mitsurugi charges in and leaves a diagonal cut on Raphael's back. That final strike did the trick.

Raphael collapses to the ground, the energy of Soul Edge leaving his body. Raphael begins to convulse, and he coughs up blood. His skin and eyes return to their original color, but before long he turns pale once more. Cassandra steps over to him, holding her bleeding abdomen.

He looks up at the woman, before his eyes dart to Amy. 'I...I can think again...My mind isn't clouded by Soul Edge anymore... I can remember all I did now...'

"Amy, I'm sorry..." he mutters, getting a gasp from Amy. "I guess that perfect world of ours will never happen now."

"Father!" Amy runs to his side, restraining herself from the tears begging to come down her eyes. Mitsurugi sheathes his blade and walks off. "Please don't go! I'll be all alone!"

"I can't... You'll have to live on by yourself," he replies, blood dripping from his lips. Raphael takes her hands within his own and raises them. "I wish I could say there are people who could take care of you, but I really doubt it."

"I could do it."

Back To Action...

The evil god possessing Link, or Kishin as we call it, continues scraping the Hero King along the walls of the castle, even as they land. Nightmare and Siegfried have reached the floor far before them due to their weight, along with the three spirit swords. Algol rises up from the ground and punches Kishin away, sending him into a wall. Algol then forms blades on his back as he rams Link with it. He manages to catch him by the blades, his hands not even being nicked.

"Kneel before me!" Kishin breaks off the blades, and slams both his fists down on Algol's back twice. He then grabs him by the shoulders and pushes him up off of him, before snapping his left foot off in his stomach; figuratively anyway. He does this several times before turning and giving a roundhouse kick.

Algol skids back a bit, and glares at him. "Tell me! What are you?"

"Like I said," Kishin says, punching into the rubble he's standing on. He draws his Double Helix Sword up from the ground and drags it as he walks over to Algol. Kishin lifts his blade and swings, slashing the Hero King diagonally across the chest. He then kicks him in the wound, knocking him back once more. "That's none of your business. All you need to do is die."

"Link! Control yourself!" Siegfried calls out to him. Kishin simply kicks Algol to the ground, and stomps on his wound. He looks off to the side and notices the Master Sword. He manages to stand and stumbles over to the sword, thinking, 'Maybe if I get it to him.'

"Die!" Kishin stomps harder, busting through his chest and into his body. Energy releases from the wound in place of blood, and Algol roars out in pain. The energy travels towards Siegfried and Nightmare, though neither of them notices.

"Catch!" Siegfried grabs the Master Sword and throws it at Kishin. Not noticing what it was, he grabs it.

"Oh no... NO!" The power source within the sword shines brightly, encasing the controlling demon back to where he belongs, in the inner recesses of Link's mind. His face falls off like a paper mask, before it dissolves into a white paste. Link's face has returned to normal, and he falls to the ground. After all his energy was drained by that battle, being used by that thing.

Algol rises to his knees, glaring at Link's unconscious form. He's used so much energy his armor has returned to its sealed state, and the Triforce has stopped glowing. Siegfried stumbles over to him, calling out to him, "Link! Are you okay?"

"That was a terrible power..." Algol mutters as he glances at the now impaired Hylian. Flames fire towards Algol, razing him to the point of near death. Siegfried turns back, and sees Nightmare wielding Soul Edge.

"**I'll have to tip my hat to the Hylian. That little stunt has weakened Algol to the point of uselessness. He's stuck using his energy left just to live,**" Nightmare bellows before he swings, releasing a stronger flame towards both Algol and Link.

"Soul Calibur!" Siegfried calls out to his sword, and it flings itself over into his hands. He then blocks the attack by sending a powerful stream of blue energy to counteract the flames. "I'm guessing the truce has ended."

"**Of course!**" Nightmare jumps off of the rubble he's on towards Siegfried, smashing whatever he lands on. "**You can sink into darkness, along with Soul Calibur!**"

"Like hell you will!" Siegfried and Nightmare clash blades, their opposing energies battling against the other.

Back with Link he's still unconscious. Algol manages to repel the flames on his body, and drags his body over to Link. "I see. He has the power of two gods."

Link opens his eyes slowly, looking up at the towering Hero King. "You!"

"Don't bother. Neither of us is in any condition to kill the other," Algol tells him, forcing himself to sit up. "I could crush you if only I had the power..."

"Why is Soul Calibur the way it is?" Link asks him, his eyes taking a moment to look at his wounds.

"What do you want to know that for?" Algol questions the Hylian. "It's my sword, so I shall use it for myself-"

"Shut up and tell me." His demand strikes a nerve in the Hero King. "Tell me everything about Soul Calibur."

Algol remains silent, staring down at the injured elf. "Very well. This will be my gift to you for defeating me."

He raises his left hand and places it on Link's forehead. A bright blue light enters his head from his hand, before it quickly dies out. While this was going on Nightmare is blown back by his diamond spikes, some having pierced his armor. He comes before Link and lifts him up, holding the elf before Siegfried who was about to send another storm of diamonds.

"Let him go!" Siegfried demands, glaring angrily at the demon sword.

"**Absolutely not! You and this Hylian are the only ones left who can hope to destroy me! It'll be much easier if one of you were to die!**" Nightmare squeezes Link hard with his demon arm. "**I shall cover the entire world... in darkness. Some human who gave into me has no chance of stopping the darkness!**"

"If you're the darkness then I will become the light. I do not desire a false salvation!" Siegfried shouts at him, raising Soul Calibur before him.

"Right. Don't give up, Siegfried!" Link tells him, kicking Nightmare in that obvious sphere of darkness that serves as his spine and stomach. This disruption causes Nightmare to cringe in pain. The dark sphere grows even blacker, and rises up throughout his body as flames. The fire turns bright orange before his armor is completely covered. He drops Link and takes flight, wings of flames expanding from behind him. The flames die out and reveal Nightmare in his new form. Link, Siegfried and Algol could only look in surprise. "...Really?"

"**If you want to stop feeling sorry for yourself then die!**" Nightmare releases flames from all over his body, blasting the tower and causing it to crumble.

"This place is gonna squash us!" Link states as he tries to stand.

"Link, get underneath me! I'll form a crystal barrier!" Siegfried tells him, but before he could try Nightmare flies down and grabs him, taking the crystal user into the skies.

"Siegfried!" Link falls to his knees, still clutching his chest injuries. 'I'm too tired from that thing possessing me to use magic! I'm trapped!'

"Just stay where you are!" Algol grabs hold of Link and pushes him to the ground. He then stands over his body, as the rubble falls down onto him.

Nightmare and Siegfried land outside of the tower, er, actually Nightmare smashes Siegfried into the ground as they land so it's more like an impact than an actual landing. Behind the beast the tower crumbles, the top portion already crushed to pieces after falling first.

"Link!" Siegfried calls out in worry for the elf. He knows for sure Cassandra would never forgive herself, or him. Even worse, he feels guilty because he couldn't save him.

"Siegfried, I'll grant you all my strength," a voice says in his mind. His mind brings out the image of a woman made entirely of ice and mist, almost like Inferno. "It's me, Claire. I'm inside of you."

'...Okay... Why are you only talking to me now?' Siegfried asks her while he stabs Nightmare's arm and breaks free.

"Siegfried, I've already chosen you as my master. Now that my power has thoroughly spread throughout your body you can finally bring out my true power. I will help you destroy Night Terror," she says, before a light brims from the orb of Soul Calibur.

'His name is Nightmare, technically,' Siegfried replies ot her.

"Not in this form," she says as he rises up to both feet. "Inferno stole power from Algol in that last strike the Hylian made. His armor persona Nightmare has become a new more powerful threat. You've also gained some power from Algol as well. You are the only one who can stop him."

"What about Link?" he asks, this time outloud. Nightmare walks towards the crystal knight, preparing to slay him.

"There's not enough time. Besides, he's a monster too who will eventually destroy everything around him," Claire says to Sieg. "Go!"

Night Terror swings Soul Edge horizontally at Sieg, who raises the crystal blade to block. While still raised in the air, Siegfried slashes forward and releases diamond shards. Only two manage to pierce into his hard skin this time, with one in the deformed Soul Edge and a second in his left eye. He grabs his face in pain.

"I'll end everything with this!" Siegfried raises Soul Calibur in the air, and the sword transforms. It's now a dark blue excalibur type sword with a shining crystal by the hilt. There's a part of the sword that resembles a face, which is really creepy.

Siegfried then swings his blade, releasing a blue shockwave towards Night Terror. The beast takes flight, evading his kenatsu. Night Terror then flies down towards him, surrounding himself in flames and crashing into the ground like a meteor. Siegfried raises a shield of blue energy to block the impact and repel the demon. Night Terror's right hand pierces through the barrier and grabs him by the head before he takes flight.

Back at the tower Link rises up from the rubble, unharmed except for the wounds he had before the thing collapsed. Link looks around for Algol, breathing hard from all the injuries he's sustained and the dust that went into his lungs. "Where... where did he go..."

He then remembers when the tower collapsed that Algol stood over him taking the debris that would have fallen on and killed him. 'He died again, to save me? I don't get it; he was trying to kill us just a few seconds ago.'

As Link pulls himself up he looks around for Siegfried, only to find him fighting what he believes to be Nightmare. That's when a thought rushes through his mind, and he collapses to the ground. 'What's this entering my head?'

Suddenly, his mind shows him images of Algol as a living person, wielding Soul Edge. The images skip over to his son taking Soul Edge, and becoming possessed by it. Algol then slays his son, and with the shards of the evil sword forges what looks to be Soul Calibur. The images end at that moment, and Link falls to his hands. Below him he could see the Master Sword under some rubble, so using a spell he draws it out from the ground and uses it to get closer to the battle between Nightmare and Siegfried. 'I guess this is a battle Siegfried can only do... He might start forgiving himself once he destroys Nightmare.'

Siegfried stabs Night Terror in his stomach, forcing him to release his head. As he falls Soul Calibur drags along the monster's body, the wound frozen due to Soul Calibur's power. This surprises Siegfried as well, not expecting an ice power. He lands, his feet injured from taking most of the fall. Night Terror crashes to the ground painfully. 'Soul Calibur's powers have increased again.'

Siegfried walks towards Night Terror, who has reverted to his previous form. The Azure Knight roars painfully at the crystal warrior. "Nightmare, ever since I've awaken from your control I've only lived to atone for my sins. I had planned to die to save my soul."

"**Some whiny human like you is better off-**"

"BUT!" Siegfried stabs Soul Calibur into his black orb, the blade causing dark energy to burst from within. It's stopped Nightmare cold, preventing him from even speaking. "Starting tomorrow I will live with my friends."

Siegfried draws his blade away and lifts its over his head, slashing at Nightmare's chest armor section. He then swings down, screaming to add effect, as his sword cleaves through Nightmare. The animated armor gives out a painful scream from those two attacks. Sieg's attacks have left a crystallized X mark on his body, which spreads throughout his body like ice. "To live... That is my redemption!"

Nightmare gives out one final scream before he falls backwards, exploding into a burst of crystal shards. Soul Edge lays beside his remains, the eye closing. Some of the crystal ice has frozen onto the sword, causing its flames to turn to steam.

"With this, it's all over..." Siegfried raises Soul Calibur up in the air, and prepares to stab Soul Edge by the eye.

Before he could a stream of black energy flies towards him, blowing him away. Looking around he spots Ganondorf, or to be more specific Inferno, flying down from above. Inferno glares at the swordsman before he walks towards the Soul Edge. He then takes it by the hilt and laughs. "Nice try Siegfried. This belongs to me once again."

"Inferno!" Siegfried picks himself back up and heaves Soul Calibur before him in a defensive position.

"I will return to this city within two days, and with me every last one of my minions. From Ostrheinsburg I will spread Malfestation throughout the world, and you two along with your friends-" he says, his eyes turning to Link as he says that last part. "-will be wiped out. The time before I return to this demonic city and the time you all group together here will be the last hours you will have to live."

"I'll fight you now!" Siegfried releases a stream of blue energy at him.

"Seal." Inferno raises Soul Edge, and it transforms into a slender blade that dispels his attack. "With all the blood and souls Nightmare has taken, my power is even stronger than before. You can't beat me using purified shards of my own body!"

"What?"

"See you then, Siegfried," he says before taking off into the air. Link manages to drag himself closer to Siegfried, gaining Inferno's attention. 'The only problem is that elf, him and his other persona... They're wild cards I had expected to be removed by now.'

"Get back here!" Link shouts out, but Inferno disappears along with Soul Edge. Gone, Link could do nothing else but fall to the ground, succumbing to his injuries. "He's gone..."

"What happened to Algol?" asks Siegfried.

"He's gone. For some strange reason he gave his life up for me, and left some knowledge about Soul Calibur..." replies the Hylian, looking away with a guilty look on his face. Whatever he knows is probably tearing him up inside.

"Really...What happened?" Siegfried asks him.

"...I can't tell you yet... You'll just have to trust me," he explains to him, using his hand to sit himself up. "Let's get back to Wolfkrone. I'm already worried about Cassie and the others."

"I'll help you up," Siegfried lifts Link onto his shoulders, and together they walk back to Wolfkrone. "Inferno will return here within two days, so that only gives us the rest of the day to get back, the next to heal our wounds, and one more to get back here and stop him."

"Then we better hurry!" Link says, preparing to move quicker to get to Wolfkrone faster. He then pauses and thinks, stopping his walking as he does. "Wait, I think I have an idea."

"Really?" asks Siegfried.

Link moves himself off of Siegfried and gathers his hands together. A bright green light glows between them and he tosses it into the air. "I'll use Farore's Wind to take us to Wolfkrone."

"You can do that?" Siegfried asks him.

"I set it up before we left to find Ivy, that alchemist who offered to help Hilde's father," says the Hero of Time. "I didn't think I'd need to use it so I didn't use it to travel back there so quickly... Wish I had, so I could have helped you."

"It's okay... You're pretty amazing though," Sieg says as he watches Link perform his magic. "I may be able to use Soul Calibur, but I can't use magic."

"It's easy when you know how to do it. Alright, here we go!" Link activates Farore's Wind again, teleporting the two warriors and their weapons towards Wolfkrone.

Back In Wolfkrone...

Link and Siegfried reappear within Wolfkrone. Even though the sun was setting and nightfall has taken the place, the two warriors could clearly see the destruction all around them. Some of the village-folk have started cleaning up the rubble and debris, leaving Link to surmise that it's all over.

"Where are the others?" Link asks himself as he senses for his friends. He picks up a small bit of Soul Edge just near the castle, and darts towards that locaton.

...Or he would have, but his injuries force him to fall flat on his face. Siegfried, being able to stand compared to him, helps the Hylian up. Link looks back at him and says, "Thanks. The others should be in the castle."

"The castle?" Siegfried carries Link over to the castle.

Approaching the gate the guards recognize Siegfried, and the right one says, "Oh, Siegfried. The princess asked for you to come when you returned."

"She did?" Siegfried and Link look at each other as the guards lead them inside, to another set of guards who lead them towards the main hall.

There they find their comrades, bandaged and bruised from their battle, before the princess. Missing from the group is Cassandra for some reason, as Link suspected when he saw them. The others notice their presence, and Hilde says, "Siegfried, Link, you made it back okay!"

"Taki, what happened to Raphael and the king?" Siegfried asks him, taking note of the fact that the two monsters that attacked this kingdom are now gone.

"They've been subdued," she replies, turning to face him. "Raphael has been killed, and the king has been cured. He's now in the infirmary."

"Where's Cassandra?" Link asks, getting a chuckle out of Taki. He frowns to that, as Xianghua and Kilik approach him.

"Cassandra's with Amy right now. You've got a bit on your hands now," Xianghua says, giggling a little. Kilik sighs, confusing the Hylian who has no idea what's going on.

"What do you mean?"

"She can tell you," Kilik adds, looking away so as to keep silent.

"Did you guys defeat Nightmare?" Mitsurugi questions them, getting straight to that important fact.

"He's done for," Sieg tells him, getting an approving grunt from him. "But, we still have a problem."

"Can I go see her?" Link asks, turning his eyes to Taki.

"I'll take you!" Xianghua takes Link and carries him towards Cassandra's location.

"Anyway, Link and I managed to defeat him, but there was something else there when I fought him," Siegfried explains, beginning to tell them what he encountered in Ostrheinburg.

With Link Xianghua has brought him to Cassandra's room. She opens the door and reveals Cassie tending to Amy. She has a scrape on her arm that she gained before coming to Wolfkrone. Taking notice of him Cassandra shouts, "Link," and immediately finishes up Amy's wound before rushing to his side. She almost slips on something but manages to take him in her arms.

"Cassandra." Link looks down at her abdomen and sees she has wrapped a bandage on it. "You're okay, right?"

"Of course I am. I told you, you didn't have to worry about me," she says, giving a small smile to him. "I was able to keep anyone else from dying."

"..." Link is about to say something, but he notices Amy and his words fly out of his head. "Isn't that Raphael's daughter?"

"Yes... You see," she begins, trying to find the right words as she helps Link to her bed. She then looks at Xianghua and asks, "Do you mind?"

"Oh, sorry," she says, sitting on the bed beside Link. Cassie's eyes narrow in annoyance. Xianghua then laughs, saying, "Oh, you wanted me to _leave_! My bad!"

The Chinese woman stands and walks out the doorway, leaving them alone. But what neither of them knew is that she's on the other side of the door eavesdropping. Cassandra asks, "Link, would it be so bad if we were to have a child like Amy?"

Link takes a moment to pause, thinking over what she said. "What do you mean?"

"When Raphael died, I promised him I would look after Amy," she says, looking back at the little girl. "I couldn't just let her kill herself... I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable, but I had to do it."

"...So, you agreed to adopt a little girl because you were..." Link pauses for a moment to search his vocabulary for a perfect word. "What's that word for when you feel like you have to do something?"

"Obliged?" she asks.

"No, that's not it..."

Cassandra thinks about it a bit more. "Obligated?"

"I think that's it." He's not familiar with the word, but it sounds familiar if he were to use his native tongue.

"Well, I didn't do it because I was obligated," Cassandra says as she looks at her. "I wanted to do it. I wanted to help her because I know it's the right thing to do, regardless of whatever awkwardness or lack of foresight it might bring."

"I see..." Link leans forward and hugs her, lightly surprising the woman. "I'm proud of you."

"You are?" she asks with a bit of a happy tone in her voice. Amy's eyes widen in shock hearing him, thinking he would be against it. She could tell that he was in a serious relationship with her but not married yet, and she was afraid that he would say now. Granted he's the same guy who spared Raphael's life that time before, but she knows nothing about him.

"When you're doing the right thing, you can't rely on what comes from up here," he says, pulling himself away from Cassie to point at his head. He then smiles and pats right above his stomach, saying, "You gotta feel it from here!"

Cassandra chuckles a bit hearing him, before leaning forward to give him a kiss. "Thank you. You've never said you were proud of me."

"Of course I am. I always have been," he replies with a smile. He then takes out his bag and holds out the red potion bottle. "Give this to the others."

"What is this?" she asks her as she places the bottle in front of her.

"It's a potion Ivy made for me," he says to her.

"Eh?"

"It can heal someone of their injuries." Hearing this Cassandra looks down at the potion. "You can have a sip. Trust me."

Hearing him say that, she uncorks the bottle and drinks a little of the red liquid. After placing it down she smacks her lips a bit, and feels her wound on the abdomen healing. "Wow! This thing is amazing!"

"Now remember to have them share it. We're going to need to be in top form for tomorrow." He states, lying back on the bed.

"Tomorrow?"

Back downstairs Siegfried has finished explaining to the others what will happen soon. Taki then responds by saying, "So Inferno will be making his move at last."

"In two days... That's more than enough time," Mitsurugi says as he looks at his cracked katana. 'I still need to find a blacksmith.'

"If that's true then we need to prepare. It'll take too long to heal and get there in time, and by then he'll have corrupted even more humans," Hilde says with concern.

"I can help with that," Ivy says with a devious grin. The others turn to her.

"We're not accepting anything from you," Taki says to the alchemist.

Siegfried places a hand on her shoulder and says, "Now, let's hear what she might have to say first."

"I can conjure up potions to restore you all to your full health. Infact I gave some to the Hylian before we came here," she explains, grinning to herself as she clenches all five of her left hand's fingers. "If you want, I can whip up a batch for all of you to use. That way you can all leave tomorrow."

Mitsurugi sheaths his blade away and walks off, heading out the door. "I don't care about that. All I need is my weapon repaired."

Yun-Seong turns to Talim, who has a few bruises herself, and steps forward. "I would like some."

"Me as well!" Talim offers, taking a moment to smile at the cold heart woman.

"If he can vouch for her, then I can as well," Kilik says, talking about Link.

Setsuka smiles with a nod. "I agree. He's a good judge of character."

Maxi nods as well, and Taki sighs out of defeat. She turns to Mina, who shrugs, and then says to Ivy, "Alright, how much will it cost to restore all of us?"

"A potion of that size, added to the cost of your bill for the antidote that saved your father-" Ivy begins to write on a piece of paper. "-This will be the cost."

Ivy walks over to Hilde and hands her the paper, causing her to go white. "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

"It's not an unfair price," she says with a devious grin. "Besides, your life and this kingdom are in danger. You should look to their lives instead of your money."

"What a horrible woman," Yun-Seong comments, gaining a scary glare from Ivy. He immediately hides behind Talim.

Finding there's no other option, and because it's partially her fault for not fighting her father seriously and letting him live, she sighs and says, "Okay. I'll pay you after you heal them. There would be no point in paying someone who half asses on the job."

Ivy chuckles a bit, holding her right hand up to her mouth. "You're absolutely right. I'll start right away."

"Then it's settled. We'll head out tomorrow right as soon as Ivy finishes her potion." Siegfried's statement prompts everyone to agree with nods.

Back with Link and Cassandra he has just finished explaining to her the situation. She then says, "So we'll have to fight Inferno and soon. I can't let that monster go on doing anymore damage."

"I know..." Link turns to look at Amy, before saying to Cassie, "Hurry up and give that to-"

Instead of letting him finish she shoves the bottle on his mouth, letting him down half of the contents. She then pulls it off of him and he coughs a bit before feeling the potion's effects taking off and healing him. "Cassie, what are you doing?"

"You need to heal up too. Your injuries are much worse than any of ours," she says to him, patting him lightly on the stomach. Cassandra then stands up and walks towards the door. "I don't want you to be hurt. Please remember that."

"I will," he says, looking up at her as she leaves. He then sits up on the bed, turning to the little child Amy still putting a distance between herself and him. "Hi, remember me?"

Amy remains quiet, turning away from him. Link sighs, knowing he won't be getting much out of her until she's warmed up to him. He then says, "I understand; you probably hate me because we fought that one time. Do you like Cassie though?"

Amy looks down for a moment, before muttering, "Yes," silently. Link smiles, seeing as he's reached an early breakthrough sooner than he expected.

Meanwhile...

Mitsurugi is walking through the streets, right when he spots a building with the words Schmied up at the top. It reads blacksmith, but he doesn't know that. Still, he walks in anyway, and breathes a sigh of relief seeing that he has found the right place.

Later That Night...

Link heads to his room after using the restroom, ready to finish the day with sleep. Entering the room he spots Cassandra changing and looks away, saying," Oh, sorry."

"It's okay. I'm almost done," she says, right before she finishes putting on her nightgown. Amy is asleep in the bed, and Cassandra joins in with her. "Link, I know it might be a bit much, but could you sleep in another bed tonight? I don't want Amy to feel uncomfortable."

Link turns to face her and sighs. He should have expected this to happen, and actually he did. She could sense his anxiety and says, I'm sorry if you feel-"

"No, it's cool. I'll sleep in a tree," he says, opening the window to jump out.

"Link, you don't have to sleep in a tree!" Cassandra says to him. Amy opens her eyes and listens to their conversation. She feels a little bad now, having to keep these two away from eachother because of her own insecurities.

"Goodnight Cassie," Link says to her, heading out the window to find a tree. Cassie grabs her by the leg and pulls him back in, causing him to bruise his chin. "Ow!"

"Sorry, but I'm not letting you sleep outside! Autumn's ending soon so it's going to be cold!" Cassandra says to him.

"I've slept out in the cold before. Who do you think I am?"

"I don't care who you are! I'm not letting my fiance freeze to death!"

"He can stay..." The bickering couple stop for a moment to look back at Amy, who finally managed to speak up. She rises up from the bed and says, "I don't really care."

'She doesn't? Or is she just saying that for me?' Cassandra thinks as she looks at the quiet little girl, and smiles. Because despite her pale skin and red eyes that would drive most people away, Cassie could see the decency hidden within her heart. And she knows for a fact that he could as well.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Link asks her as he picks himself back into the room.

"Yes," she replies once more, turning away from them now. If it was going to make Cassandra sad then she wouldn't let them separate. As the lights go off Link snuggles onto the right side of the bed. Amy and Cassandra sleep on the left side, Amy facing Cassandra and keeping her back to Link.

The Hylian sighs and looks up at the ceiling. His eyes dart to the sky, and the stars take an image to Cassandra's face. 'Huh. Usually I imagine Zelda in the stars... I guess this is it... I've finally-'

Before he could finish, Cassandra is soon replaced with Zelda. 'Damn... I guess I'm not over her... After all we've been through, I still have feelings for Zelda... I can't get her death out of my mind!'

He shifts in his position to face away from the girls, trying to get Zelda out of his mind. 'I hope I move on soon...'

The Next Day...

"You guys ready?" Link asks everyone as he prepares to use Farore's Wind.

"Yeah," they all say, confirming their preparedness. Mitsurugi raises his blade, which he has finally gotten fixed for the battle. All the others take a sip from a small vial given to them by Ivy, drinking the red liquid inside.

Link takes a minute to look at Cassandra, and takes notice of the others who have joined the battle; himself, Cassie, Taki, Mitsurugi, Maxi, Kilik, Talim, Xianghua, Seung Mina, Setsuka, and Yun-Seong. Amy has stayed with Hilde in protection, and it took a lot of convincing her from Cassie to get the little girl to go along with it; the only ones she can trust now are Link and Cassandra.

Hilde approaches the eleven warriors and asks, "Are you sure you won't need an army to go with you? It won't be easy."

"No need for that. That's why we got him," Taki says, pointing to the samurai.

"It'll be best to go with less people, people who have experience fighting Soul Edge," Link says to her, stretching his arms out. "If too many people went with us they could get killed, and we don't want that."

"Link, don't be so naive," Maxi says to him, gaining his attention. "This is the final battle. You can't not expect someone to die. War doesn't work-"

"I know, Maxi," he replies, interrupting him. "I know too well how war works out... I know how it feels it have a loved one taken away because of a small mistake you wish you could change...That's why we have to do this."

The others look at him with pity, knowing exactly where he's getting at. Cassandra's eyes narrow in sadness before she looks down at her left hand, knowing he's still reeling over Zelda's death. Link takes a moment to sigh, before releasing his spell and transporting them towards the demon city that is Ostrheinsburg.

Inside of the castle, Amy watches as the eleven warriors leave. In her mind she couldn't help but worry about her caretaker. Ivy watches them leave from behind a building, her heart pounding with concern for our Hylian protagonist.

Back in Ostrheinsburg a castle can be seen falling from the sky and landing in the middle of the city. The cursed civilians moan demonically as the monster who transformed them in the first place comes out to a balcony. Behind him are Koume, Kotake, Voldo and Gel-o-Fury as Shura.

"They're on their way," says the demon sword as he raises his true body up into the air. "Koume, Kotake, send the fleet. Once they've weakened Link and Siegfried long enough, lure them into the castle by splitting them up from the others. This time, we're not taking any chances."

"What about that woman with the other Triforce mark?" Koume asks Soul Edge/Inferno.

"She will surely become a problem just like the elf!" Kotake adds.

"That's why we got the phantom from that well. They'll be so busy staying alive they won't be able to protect each other," Inferno says before he bellows with laughter. As he finishes his laughter he reenters the castle, and notes a small surge of energy nearby. 'What was that? ...Did they make it back already?'

At that moment Link and the others appear just outside of the city.

* * *

Julia: Next chapter the final battles begin. Two monsters from Link's future, Taki's own nightmare, and just when things begin to look bad the calvary shows up. Some of these things will happen in the final chapters of ALF.


	36. The Final Battles Part 1

_**Chapter 36: The Final Battles Part 1  
**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, or Metroid. Although that only appeared once, I still think it needs to be mentioned. **glares at lawyers**

Julia: So I heard something today.

Kenshin: What?

Yusei: You should know already.

Kenshin: ...Nope.

Yusei: ...Well I don't either. What is it?

Julia: Well apparently, TCM was planning to have Link pair up with Sophitia and Cassandra in the beginning.

Kenshin and Yusei: EH?

Dante: Normally I wouldn't be appalled because most of the women in SC are smokin' hot, but Sophitia is married to Rothion! How was he gonna get through that?

Julia: Well he did die after Soul Calibur 4, and he was gonna kill him off sometime later, but something must have changed his mind.

TCM: Need I remind you that this story is a remodel of the original A Love Forged that was pretty much a ripoff of another story? I had to change the entire story; completely rework the damn thing. Now, no more wasting time. Start the story!

* * *

Link and the others appear just outside of the Ostreinburg. The evil energy surrounding the city could be clearly felt by the three sensitive warriors in the group. Siegfried immediately draws Soul Calibur and prepares for battle. Taki spots the castle up ahead. "Look, that's the same castle we fought Soul Edge in before."

"Siegfried, I know you think that it may be good to use our full strength-" Link says to Siegfried, looking back at him. "-but let's save our strength until we reach Inferno. We can't afford to get tired in the middle of battle."

"Agreed." Siegfried nods and faces the castle. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

Before they could begin their assault, a mass of darkness erupts before the castle. Rising up from it are a large group of monsters, even bigger than any other group than before; Stalfos, Lizardmen, Dinolfos, Wolfos, and Dodongos. Yun-Seong says, "Looks like we got company."

Before he could rush into battle, Talim grabs him by the arm and says, "Wait! You can't just rush into battle like that! You'll get yourself killed!"

"People always say that, but I'm still around!" Yun-Seong says to her.

"These are just for stalling. He must be preparing for something," Link says as he draws his shield and sword.

"Still, we can't waste time on them," Siegfried says, preparing to call forth his armor.

The monsters all charge at our heroes, and more seem to rise up from the dark mass in the ground. Before they could make it past a yard, a fireball hits the ground, incinerating the advance group. Looking around, our heroes try to search out where it came from.

"About time you guys showed up," a voice speaks. Just east of the battlefield stands a man Link and company haven't seen in days; Spawn.

"Spawn!" Link shouts out.

"I'm here to finally finish what I came here for, and I even brought some tools to side with," Spawn says before he slides his left hand over to the side, as if revealing something. Standing behind him are a large group of soldiers. A man in white armor walks up to Spawn next to Tira. Behind them is Yoshimitsu, his arm repaired with a brand new one.

"Master Spawn, we're all gathered for war!" Tira says with a joyful tone. "Hey, it's them!"

"So, we meet again," Yoshimitsu says as he eyes Link, Cassandra and Maxi. Part of him wants to apologize for that time he was possessed, but he can wait until later.

"I know... Well, let's get started. Girardot, those are the enemy," Spawn says to the armored man.

"Very well," he replies, and sends his men into battle. He raises his weapon and heads towards the battlefield, while Spawn tightens his gloves. Tira grabs her circle blade and Yoshimitsu draws his new blade Zantetsuken.

"...Okay..." Taki mumbles with confusion.

"I guess they're with us," Link says before he rushes to the battlefield.

"Link, wait!" Siegfried calls out to him. Cassandra chases after Link, running past Siegfried. Soon the others head into battle, brandishing their weapons.

"The trap is set," Inferno says as he watches the battle from his castle. He turns to Shura and says, "Tell Bongo Bongo and Twinrova to get in place. We need to split them up, keep that Hylian away from as many of his friends as possible."

"Will that work?" Shura asks him, drawing her first katana. She then raises it over her mouth, crossing her face.

"I've seen that darkness in him in action; he'll go berserk and destroy his friends once it's unleashed." Inferno states with a grin. "It'll be fine as long as I'm in this castle; the walls are drenched with demonic energy from Soul Edge. At the end of everything I'll scoop up the shards of Soul Edge from their corpses and become complete!"

"Fine, but I get Taki. I want her blood on my blades," she says, licking the sharpened edge of her sword and spitting to the ground.

"Deal." As he says this line Link carves through a Stalfos, releasing Shooting Stardust to destroy its remains. A flash of dark energy is reflected in his eyes for a moment.

"The doorway is free!" Link shouts, pointing up ahead to the passageway. He heads for the opening into the castle, and Cassandra, Siegfried, Maxi and Taki manage to follow after him. As they enter the castle, Taki notices that none of the monsters are preventing them from going inside.

'Why haven't they stopped us?' she thinks.

"Time to move this fight inside!" Mitsurugi chases after them, but a Wolfos grabs him by the back, and tosses him away. The lizard warriors charge at Mitsurugi, but chains wrap around them and pulverizes them into the ground. The chains return to Spawn, who turns his attention to the door. Despite the fact that the army he gathered for this event is doing great, there seems to be more monsters showing up. Some of them are blocking the entrance too.

Inside Link and the others head through the main entrance towards the stairway...Of course there'd be one; it's a castle! Anyway, they stop after three steps up, when Link pauses for a moment.

Cassandra asks, "What's wrong?"

"Gah!" Link grabs his face, or mostly his mouth and nose, and falls to his knees. "That horrible stench is back!"

"What stench?" Taki asks him. Siegfried sniffs the air, and after a while he grabs his face suddenly. Taki does so as well. "Oh god! Now I smell it!"

"That's a horrible smell!" Cassandra picks up the scent as well. Even Maxi couldn't resist. Looking up the stairs he spots a set of brown figures stumbling towards them. "What are those?"

"Redeads!" Link speaks through a muffled mouth. The horrible smelling monsters coming for them are the screeching zombies Redeads. "Don't get too close to them; they're surprisingly fast when you're in reach. And don't look into their eyes, or they'll scream and paralyze you."

"How does that work?" Cassandra asks as she looks into the eyes of the first Redead. It makes a blood curdling scream, and everyone except Cassandra closes their eyes to it. Cassandra's body freezes, her eyes having lost their color and even her breath taken away.

"Cassandra!" Link grabs Cassandra before she could collapse, holding her up in his arms. His next move involves drawing his Hero's Bow and firing a flaming arrow at the nearest zombie. It quickly catches on fire and begins flailing about, until it strikes one of the others. It ignites and soon the flames spread over to the others in a chain reaction.

The fire begins to take out the group quickly, leaving nothing more than an arm left. Link grabs Cassandra and runs past the flaming corpses. "Run!"

"Right!" Siegfried heads after Link with Maxi and Taki behind him. Upon reaching the first level, the floor turns dark purple. "What is this?"

"Link!" Taki calls out. Link looks back at the others, noticing how he's the only one not touching the dark floor. He lays Cassandra down and draws the Clawshot.

"It's sucking us in!" Maxi comments, struggling hard to break out. He grabs hold of Taki's left leg and is drawn deep into the purple ooze. Maxi shouts, "Taki!"

"Maxi!" Taki is sucked inside the ooze, taken away from the others along with Maxi.

Link manages to fire the Clawshot and grab Siegfried before he could sink too. Using all his strength he pulls the armorless warrior out of the ooze onto solid ground. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm cool. Thanks," he says, turning back to Taki and Maxi, who are gone now. "What was that?"

"...I have an idea," Link says in a soft voice. "It could be the phantom Bongo Bongo."

"Bongo Bongo?"

"It's the corpse of a former Sheikah, or something." Link shrugs as he tries to remember its story. "Anyway, it was sealed in a well back in my home world, but Ganondorf brought it back to life. It has the power to turn invisible, but the only weapon I could use to fight back is gone... I think... I haven't gotten the chance to empty this thing out."

As he prepares to check his bag Cassandra's body loosens up. Now no longer stiff, she is able to move her arms and legs, rolling over to her hands and knees. "Huh... What happened?"

"Cassandra, you're awake!" Link says out of happiness, glad that she's okay now. His worry for his friends return though, and he stares at where Bongo Bongo took his friends away. "Let's check the basement."

Before he could head there, Siegfried grabs his left shoulder. "We might not get another chance to reach the top. Let's have faith in them."

"But..." Link turns back to where his friends disappeared. "...Fine."

Elsewhere...

Downstairs underneath Link-tachi, Taki and Maxi land in what appears to be the kitchen area of the castle. Taki, her face having landed on Maxi's chest, immediately rises up from him with a small blush on her face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," he replies before she holds out a hand to him. He takes it, and pulls himself to his feet. His eyes then scout the area, noting that it's the kitchen. "What's this, the cafeteria?"

"Yeah... It's weird that he would even include this," Taki says as she looks around the place. Taki walks over to the nearest doorway. She checks the entrance, and nods seeing no one around. "I think I see a way up. Let's go!"

"Bwmp?" Taki looks back at Maxi, and sighs seeing he's stuffing his face with food from the fridge. He takes a few seconds to chew before swallowing everything in his mouth, saying, "What?"

"You're gonna stuff your face in this situation? We gotta get to Link and the others!" Taki tells him.

Maxi swallows his meal and says, "Nothing says I should fight on an empty stomach."

"...Pirate..." she complains, walking towards the stairs with a sigh. 'Why do I enjoy spending time with that weirdo?'

"Good day to you, Taki," a voice says. Someone leaps down from above at her. The ninja steps to the side and grabs Rekki-maru before holding her position to face her attacker; Shura. "It's been a while since our last meeting. No hello or anything?"

"Gel-O-Fury! I'd recognize that energy anywhere!" she says to him/her... Let's go with her.

"Like the new body?" she asks her, doing a little spin while showing off every last curve. "I know, it's great. You never feel more evil than when you possess a woman as delicious on the outside as she is evil on the inside."

"Evil?"

"This human didn't struggle at all when I possessed her; she let me do it, just so she could kill as many people as she could!" Shura speaks to her with a cackle. "It's amazing how murderous a bitch like her can be. You have no idea how many people she's killed!"

Taki smiles on the other hand. "Good. I won't feel bad when I kill you then."

"Try it." Shura draws her twin blades and prepares for the fight. Maxi on the other hand can't help but drool over Shura's appearance. What with her clothes showing more curves and nudity than even Taki he can't help but stare.

Flushed with anger, Taki shouts, "HEY! Stop staring at her ass for one minute and go find Link!"

"Huh? Oh right!" Snapping out of it, Maxi heads for the stairs. Before he could he runs into a little trouble, in the form of two Darknuts. "Crap."

"You ain't goin' no where!" The black Darknut Grimm says to the pirate.

"No where but hell!" The dark red Darknut Orz adds.

"Beat it! I ain't got time for you losers!" Maxi says as he leaps at Orz and kicks him in the face. Orz pushes him back, his shield protecting him.

"You ain't strong enough to even dent this armor!" Maxi gets knocked to the side by his club with blunt spikes. He rolls onto his feet and faces the two.

Taki clashes blades with Shura, who begins to force the ninja to jump away from her moves. After her landing Shura goes on the assault, Taki blocking each blow as best as she can. With Rekkimaru she's putting up a fight against Shura's Raijinmaru.

Shura kicks at Taki's face, but she ducks and makes a sweep kick. Shura then stabs at the ninja, who disappears using all her speed. Coming behind her she shouts, "Hinotama no Jutsu!"

Shura brings her hands together and releases a blast of spiritual energy, which counters the fireball. Taki draws shuriken and through them at Shura, who deflects them with a swipe of her sword. Taki takes this time to dash at Shura, who draws her other sword Fujinmaru. Taki grabs Mekkimaru and locks her arms and blades around Shura's left arm, before kicking her in the face. This causes the woman to lose control over her sword Fujinmaru and drop it.

"Damn you!" Shura speaks as she wields her sword with both hands.

"Rising Dragon of the Zodiac!" Maxi lands a powerful kick to Orz's face, causing him to fall back as his helmet shatters.

"Why you!" Grimm comes in from behind with a blunt two handed sword, but Maxi ducks underneath and sweep kicks him to the ground. The pirate then runs over him to put more space between him and these two powerhouses. Orz tosses his weapon at Maxi, his club striking him in the back. Maxi hits the fridge, and the sound of his back cracking could be heard.

Orz grabs Maxi by the head and turns him around, pushing the injured pirate to the fridge. He then shoves his weapon into his stomach, causing the pirate to cry out in pain.

Taki's ears pick up his wails, and so she quickly turns to see Maxi in trouble. 'Maxi!'

Before she could go help him Shura stands in her way, having picked up Fujinmaru. "Not so fast!"

"Get out of my way!" Taki shouts at her.

"You seem to care allot about that guy..." Shura says as she holds her weapon in front of the ninja. As Taki grits her teeth angrily, Shura laughs. "Oh, isn't this sweet? Taki has found a little friend! Wouldn't it suck if your little boy-toy died in front of you?"

"You must be mistaken... Maxi is just my fellow teammate, nothing more or less," Taki says to her, regaining her composure. A small blush appears on her face as she lies, something Shura picks up.

Maxi grabs hold of the weapon crushing his organs and pushes back with all his strength. Gritting his teeth he growls as he musters his strength, and finds himself free in a matter of seconds. Even Orz is shocked, saying, "What?"

Sheathing Mekkimaru, Taki jumps back a few feet and charges at Shura. The busty villain crosses her swords in a scissors position, and thrusts towards Taki to bisect her. Taki leaps towards Shura, lifting her body horizontally over her blades and only getting scratches on her outfit over her breasts. Taki drops Rekkimaru and grabs hold of her wrists, pulling her lower half over in the air and slamming into a sitting position on Shura's shoulders.

Having gripped her hands and face, Taki pulls apart, forcing Shura to drop her swords and struggle. 'It smells down here! Doesn't she clean this suit or atleast her area?"

Shura, having no other idea of what to do, runs towards the sink and dives for it. Taki manages to release her arms and flip behind her at the last second, letting her take some of the damage. The crash causes Shura to cry out in pain, but Taki still pulls down on Shura's head by the leglock. She grabs hold of her legs and forces Shura down on the sink, bashing her head on the faucet.

'This better work!' Shura releases spiritual energy, causing an explosion that devastates the whole sink area. Water shoots out from the pipes within the smokecloud. Taki and Shura rise up from the ground, facing eachother. The explosion has also torn off parts of their clothing, leaving a huge amount of cleavage visible on Taki's suit along with her left pant leg and her entire midsection front and back. Shura's clothes are also slashed apart, leaving her entire upper body free of any article of clothing and exposing her breasts.

"This is starting to get annoying," Shura says to her.

Taki reaches behind her and grabs Mekkimaru, but Shura manages to reach for her arm and force Taki to draw too quickly. Mekkimaru flies from her hands and stabs into the wall. "No more of your silly tricks or acrobatics, Taki. I don't need a sword to kill you!"

"Neither do I!" Taki raises her free hand to slug Shura in the face, who flicks the ninja square in the nose. As she does she releases a bit of spiritual energy, giving a sickening crunch to her face and making her bleed.

"You're weak," she says, looking down at her face. Taki punches Shura square in the nose, causing blood to rain down on her cleavage.

"Give up!" Orz says to Maxi, who manages to save his organs.

"Hey, check it out!" Grimm says, tapping Orz on the shoulder and pointing to the girls.

"I'm not as weak as you think," Taki tells her before kicking the villain in the face. Shura backs away while grabbing her nose, letting go of Taki. The ninja then grabs hold of Shura's shoulders and knees her in the stomach, before punching her in the face. Shura kicks her in the back of the leg, but even with the spiritual energy enhancing the blows Taki still remains standing. She grabs Shura by the shoulder and forces her against the wall, the water from the pipe pouring down on them.

"Yeah! This is what I'm talking about!" Orz says as he and Grimm check out the girls getting wet. He's not even paying attention to Maxi right now; he's leaning on his weapon to keep him in place. Of course Maxi is also entranced by the beautiful sight in front of him.

"Wish I had a beer," Grimm says, before turning to the fridge. Orz let's Maxi down and opens the fridge, grabbing a jug of alcohol for him and Grimm. Together the three watch the cat fight go on.

Outside...

Xianghua pulls a Wolfos away from Kilik, and stabs it in the eye. "Kilik, I was wondering, what would make a good name?"

"What are you talking about?" he asks her before jabbing a Stalfos in the face.

"For kids. I've been thinking about the name Leixia," she says with a smile before pulling her sword out.

"Can we talk about this later?" he asks her, causing her to pout and frown. 'That's a stupid name.'

With Spawn, he fires a mini Necro Cannon to clear a path inside. The hellspawn walks inside the castle, his cape blowing wildly with a 'hpmh'. Mitsurugi, having cut down a Dinolfos, heads inside after him.

Elsewhere...

Lizardmen gather at the top of the flight of stairs, facing the trio of Link, Siegfried and Cassandra before them. Activating the Triforce and taking out his magic armor, Link charges forward, but gets stopped by Siegfried. "What are you doing?"

"Don't go charging in at full power so quickly. You'll lose control like last time," he whispers to him. Siegfried then raises Soul Calibur and fires an array of diamond spikes at them, cleaning out the first group. "Leave this to me and Cassandra!"

"We got this, Link!" Cassie says as she charges at the lizards, fairing better than she's ever had before. After a few blows have been traded, purple and black ooze gathers underneath them. Cassandra and Siegfried roll out of the way to avoid it, while Link climbs the stairs to reach them. The lizards disappear into the ooze, while up from it rises the Pitch Black Phantom Beast - Bongo Bongo. The entire floor becomes shrouded in darkness, as Bongo Bongo turns invisible.

"Was that Bongo Bongo?" Cassandra asks Link.

"Yeah. Watch for his arms. They're not invisible," Link says as he eyes the two parts of the ghost's body not see through. "Keep the hands busy! I'll flush out the body!"

"Got it!" Siegfried says as he fires diamond spikes at the left hand, drawing it towards him. Cassandra releases a kenatsu at the right hand, forcing it to follow her.

'If I remember correctly, it was in the middle of the two hands... Which means, right there!' Link immediately activates his Triforce, and then the magic armor. With the Kokori's Super Royal Armor on his body Link prepares a kenatsu attack for the phantom.

"Shooting Stardust!" Link swings vertically at the direct center between the right hand and the left. But when he does his face quickly changes back to the mask of the Fierce Deity, which disappears the moment he releases his attack. Shooting Stardust transforms into a spiraling vortex of energy that completely razes everything before it and blows a hole in the castle walls.

Bongo Bongo's body becomes visible for a moment, revealing how Link's attack has completely taken off its head, neck, and pretty much everything but the tail. Link places a hand to his face, remembering that instance where the mask rose in place. 'That power... It just showed up...'

The rest of Bongo Bongo falls to the ground, along with its arms, and phazes into ooze. Cassandra and Siegfried, having seen Link's attack, are shocked to have witnessed just how much power he could muster.

Inside his room Inferno grins proudly, as if he's holding himself back from laughing. 'There we go.'

* * *

Julia: And so we come to the final rounds. Next time, Spawn meets Twinrova and Mitsurugi faces Voldo. Inferno's plan plays into action as he forces Link to fight with everything he's got.


	37. The Final Battles Part 2

_**Chapter 37: The Final Battles Part 2  
**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, or Metroid. Although that only appeared once, I still think it needs to be mentioned. **glares at lawyers**

Julia: Hey guys, check this out.

(Justin, Morrigan, and Cielo enter)

Morrigan: What's up?

Julia: Well it turns out...Wait, who are you guys?

Cielo: We are new ocs TCM made. I am the great female pirate captain of the Universal Sky Pirates, 'Cielo'. I run a group of female space pirates and raid other space stations.

Morrigan: I am her first mate, Morgan Wilkins.

Justin: I'm Justin, unrelated to these broads. (gets beaten up by the girls)

Manabu: Anyway, Julia, what were you gonna say?

Julia: Oh right. I've estimated that we have seven chapters left before we finish this story... Maybe more, maybe less. But it's definite that we'll end soon.

* * *

_Last Time On ALF..._

_Link and the others storm Inferno's castle, siding with Spawn's army he brought. Link, Spawn, Cassandra, Maxi, Taki, Siegfried, Mitsurugi and Talim manage to sneak through Inferno's seemingly endless army of monsters to enter the castle, where they find even more horrible monsters inside. As he's split from everyone but Cassandra and Siegfried, Link faces Bongo Bongo and accidentally unleashes his inner power against it. Meanwhile, Taki and Maxi fall into the kitchen area and face Shura, possessed by Gel-O-Fury, with interesting results._

Link deactivates his super royal armor, along with the Triforce, and looks down at his left hand. "That power..."

"Link, that was awesome!" Cassandra says as she approaches him. "You've really powered up, haven't you?"

"It's weird..." Link says as he clenches his fist. "I felt this uncontrollable burst of energy release from inside me..."

"So that's what it was..." Siegfried says as he approaches them. "Link, you've been too preoccupied with fighting Inferno, so you probably didn't notice this; the walls of this entire castle are completely filled with demonic energy... Inferno probably did it to increase the powers of his pawns, but it's affecting you too isn't it?"

"What?" Cassie quickly turns to Link.

"The god inside of him is drawing on that energy, which will make it easy for you to lose control," he says to him. "Try to hold yourself back even harder now. You lose control, and that monster will kill us all."

"...How would you know-"

"That monster of yours came out and attacked Algol. Actually saved our butts before I could bring you back with the Master Sword. Make sure you hold onto that," he says, patting the Hylian on the back. "Let's go!"

As Siegfried heads forward, Link is stopped by Cassandra. "So even now you're still keeping secrets from me?"

"I didn't even know I transformed... It's like a whole blur to me, that entire fight..." Link tells her. "Cassie, I know I told Siegfried I would hold myself back, but I still think I might have to."

"No arguing about it! You're not using that power, at all!" Cassandra grabs him by the arm and pulls him along after Siegfried.

Elsewhere...

Taki continues to shove Shura into the wall, as water pours down on their bodies from the faucet. It's such a hot sight that not even Maxi, or especially Maxi, couldn't resist. He grabs a beer from the fridge and sits by the Darknuts, watching the girls go into action.

There's this moment where Shura grabs hold of Taki's neck, but her hands slip and she bumps heads with her, and their breasts mash together against one another. To that the guys cheer, and Grimm says, "Booby toast!"

"Booby toast!" Orz says, and they cling glasses with one another.

Taki kicks Shura in the stomach and knocks her to the ground, before jumping on her body and locking her arms around her left arm and chest and pulling on her head. "Maxi and them are watching this, aren't they?"

"They're probably waiting for us to kiss," Shura says jokingly.

"Like hell!" Taki smashes Shura's head into the ground and leaps off her body, before initiating a jutsu. "Hinotama no Jutsu!"

Her fireball completely destroys the area the sink used to be, along with Shura. Grimm and Orz whine seeing that, knowing it's over.

'Oh well, it was fun while it lasted... Time for work!' Maxi breaks the glass bottle he owns and stabs the area where Grimm's eye is in his helmet. While he crying out in pain, Maxi smacks Grimm's head hard with his nunchuks, enough for him to fall to the ground bleeding. He could never have done that if he had his helmet still.

Maxi then picks himself up and walks towards Taki, who slowly approaches them. "You enjoy yourself?"

"Nope, not at all," he lies, looking away with a blush.

"Well, make sure you pay attention this time. Gel-O-Fury is mad," she tells him, pointing back at the demon woman who can be seen walking out of the smoke.

"Yes I am." Shura holds her hand out, and fires a blast of spiritual energy at Taki and Maxi. They run to the side to avoid it, leaving Shura time to grab her swords Raijinmaru and Fujinmaru. "It's about time I stopped playing with you."

"Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" Taki summons a hurricane to blow at Shura, who raises Raijinmaru and slashes through with relative ease. "What?"

"Your powers are nothing to me. While I've been playing with you all this time I've also been absorbing Soul Edge's energy radiating off of the walls of this castle. I'm now at a level where you can't even hurt me!" Shura slashes her twin swords in an X formation, sending a sword beam shaped like a spiraling X towards them.

"Maxi!" Taki grabs the pirate and jumps out of the way, her speed the only thing that allowed them to escape that explosion. She then lands off to the side, glaring back at the demon woman, and let's Maxi go. "I need your help to get my swords."

"How's that gonna help?" he asks.

"Mekkimaru is infused with Soul Edge's energy, so it should be able to absorb the demon energy in the walls around us," Taki whispers to him. She looks at the rubble behind Shura, where Mekkimaru is resting. "Can you distract her that long?"

"No problem..." he says to her.

"Good!" Maxi marches at Shura, swinging his nunchuks for battle. Taki runs in at a slow pace after him.

"Rushing to your deaths, huh?" Shura swings at Maxi, who raises his nunchuks to block them. "I'll slice you in two!"

"Hurry up!" Maxi shouts before kicking Shura in the stomach and wrapping his weapon around her blade. He pulls the sword out of her hand and tosses it away, having Fujinmaru's blade snap into pieces. Shura stabs at Maxi, but he steps to the side and ducks in rapid motion to avoid her attacks.

Taki manages to grab Rekkimaru and Mekkimaru, and turns around to see Maxi's situation. Eventually Shura slashes across his chest, causing blood to pour from his wound down on her body. "Maxi!"

"Die!" Shura raises her sword and prepares to cut through his head, but that's when Taki tosses Rekkimaru and it pierces into her back. The blade comes out through her chest, and blood oozes down from her wound. Shura turns around to face Taki, but is kicked in the face by the ninja.

"Get away from him!" Taki slashes at Shura, releasing energy from the blade to repel the demon woman.

Shura picks herself up easily, pulling out Rekkimaru. "Ah, isn't that sweet? I guess he isn't just a comrade, is he?"

"Shut up!" Taki initiates a technique, but messes up the handseals and fails.

"An opening!" Shura swings her blade, releasing a sword beam that blows them away. Taki and Maxi roll into opposite positions.

With them down Shura rushes to what remains of Fujinmaru and throws it at Taki, piercing her right arm. She cries out in pain, even more when Shura utilizes her energy to burn into her arm. The topless demon woman walks over to Taki, Raijinmaru in her hands. She flips it over and stands before the ninja, stating, "I guess you weren't strong enough to avenge your pathetic master after all."

Shura raises her blade and prepares to pierce her skull, but a set of hands grab hold of her arms and force the blade through her stomach. The blade comes out through her and pierces in and out Maxi's. Taki's eyes widen in shock seeing his move. "MAXI!"

"What are you waiting for, get her!" shouts the pirate.

"Stop getting in the way!" Shura shouts at him, using her sword to release energy to burn his insides. He coughs up blood.

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Taki pulls her arm from Fujinmaru stuck in the ground, leaving a huge fracture in her bone. The marrow and blood inside squirt from her arm near her leaning wrist and hand, as she charges at Shura with Mekkimaru in the other hand.

The moment Maxi pulls himself free, Taki slashes diagonally at Shura. Her attack permeates through her body, electricity sparking all over. She then falls backwards, exploding into flames.

Taki uses all her strength to keep standing, breathing hard and ignoring the pain from her arm. But as she stands a ghostly apparition rises up from Shura's remains. The ghost glares at Taki with blood red eyes, shouting, "I STILL LIVE!"

"Gel-O-Fury..."

"It's not over yet! I can simply possess your little boytoy over there!" Gel-O-Fury flies over to the fallen pirate, who has just heard his plan.

"Makain Fuin no Jutsu!" Using only her left hand Taki performs several handseals, and a fresh wind blows around her and Gel-o-Fury. "Sai!"

From her hands a stream of energy pierces the ghost's body, freezing it. The ghost's body soon explodes, shattering into tiny pieces. With the ghost gone, Taki finally relaxes and falls to her knees. She then collapses, into Maxi's arms.

"Gotcha babe," he says, clutching her in his arms. Maxi then lays her on the floor, his eyes drawn to the still bleeding right arm. He takes his coat off and tears a sleeve off, before using it to wrap around her arm. The sleeve bloodies up rather quickly. "That should keep it from coming off until we get that really-"

Before he could finish, Taki grabs his chin with her good hand and kisses him. Maxi was taken back at first so he does nothing, but soon he realizes what's happening and pulls free. "Whoa, whoa! What the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean? I'm kissing you," she says to him.

"That's what I'm talking about! I figured you'd be the last person to kiss me!" Maxi's words of confusion bug Taki out, but at the same time she smiles. "What?"

"You're right, I shouldn't be kissing you... You should be kissing me," she says, pointing at him.

"What?"

"I want you to kiss me, from now on. If there is a problem with that then don't do it." Her words, accompanied with a faint blush on her face, leave Maxi at a loss for words. "You know you want to."

Gritting his teeth, he shouts, "Give me a break! Your tricks won't work," before grabbing her face and kissing the crimson ninja on the lips. The passion both warriors hold for one another can be felt through their lips.

Elsewhere...

A trio of Stalfos stand before Spawn, who raises his hand and flexes his muscles. A few cricks can be heard as he does, before his cape morphs off of his back into an axe. "You guys are pissing me off!"

With a single swing, he crushes the bone warriors, shattering them to pieces. His cape shifts into a hammer, one he uses to crush the remains to pieces. 'Takes care of them.'

Spawn reverts his hammer into a cape and walks forward, his eyes tracing the area for anyone who might sneak up on him. He quickly turns around and prepares a Necro Cannon, only to stop when he spots Mitsurugi. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah that's right, me! What's it to ya?" Mitsurugi draws his sword and aims it at Spawn's head.

The undead warrior simply swaps his sword away and walks off, chuckling under his mask. "You're more annoying than you are threatening. Beat it!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" The samurai swings at Spawn, who blocks using the grown spikes on his left arm. "Maybe I can get a good challenge out of you!"

"So that's all you're here for, a good fight?" Spawn's chains shoot out at Mitsurugi and knocks him into a wall. "Don't bite off more than you can chew, fucking idiot."

The samurai picks himself up rather easily. But before he could make a move, the room turns , a voice speaks, "Oh look at this. These two have given themselves up as sacrifices to the great Inferno!"

A pillar of fire and ice rise up on their left and right, and out from it rises the twins Koume and Kotake. Fire bursts from Koume's hair while Kotake's hair freezes over. The fire witch cackles as she says, "With my flames I shall burn you to the bone!"

"With my frost I will freeze your very soul!" Kotake states with her own cackle. The elderly twin sorceresses circle over Spawn, who only looks annoyed.

"Get lost!" Spawn fires his Necro Cannon at Koume, who receives it without a struggle. She laughs, as the flames surround her without harm.

"Like fire can hurt me! Take this!" She releases a stream of flames at the Hellspawn, who jumps out of the way. His chains shoot out at her, but that's when Kotake takes the scene by freezing them.

"Your powers are nothing to us, Hellspawn!" Her ice spreads down to Spawn, freezing him completely. Flexing his muscles he manages to break free, and retrains his frosted chains.

The two combine their magic and fire a heat/frost spell at Spawn, but he extends his cape into wings and takes flight, avoiding their attacks.

"I can't face those two directly... Fire and ice aren't really good together though." Spawn lands below Koume, awaiting her spell to fire at him.

"Take this!" From behind Kotake fires an ice beam at Spawn, who retaliates by forming his cape behind him. It takes the shape of a glass mirror, and reflects the ice beam away. Spawn bends down on his knees, allowing the beam to reflect onto Koume. The fire twin cries out in pain as her body freezes up cold from that one hit.

Kotake cancels her ice beam, shouting, "Ooh! Sorry about that!"

"Watch where you am!" Koume shouts at her sister.

Spawn returns his cape into an axe, and darts his eyes back at the two hags. "You're gonna need more than spells to defeat me."

"You cocky brat! Take this!" Koume fires a fire beam at him.

Spawn simply transforms his cape into a mirror and deflects it to the samurai. At that moment his instincts kick in and he raises his blade to deflect the fire beam, and by coincidence it strikes and burns Kotake. She screams in pain taking her sister's attack. "My bad!"

"You old scank! You should have known that would happen!" Kotake yells at her sister.

"Who the hell are these bitches?" Mitsurugi questions.

"Just go ahead. I can handle them with one hand tied behind my back!" Spawn tells him.

"Heh, pretty strong, ain't ya?" Mitsurugi heads up the stairs, ignoring Spawn and his opponents. Talim and Setsuka manage to enter the castle as well.

"We made it in," Talim says with relief. Her eyes dart almost immediately to the two witches bickering at eachother.

"Nevermind! Let's finish this quickly!" Koume says to her twin.

"That's right, no more playing games!" Kotake joins with her sister, and they fly in a circle over Spawn and the others.

"You got it!"

"Koume and Kotake Double Dynamic Attack!" The two witches are consumed in a bright light, one that transforms their bodies and mutates them into one. The light dies out, revealing a giant green skinned woman with a hat that exposes the elements of fire and ice. In both her hands is a staff for using spells, and a gem is plastered on her forehead. "Twinrova!"

"Dynamic attack my ass." Spawn takes out a gun and fires at the witch, catching her clean in the left eye. "All you two did was fuse together."

"You son of a bitch!" Twinrova cries as her eye heals itself.

"Fusing together was futile. All you did was make a single target." Spawn fires again at the witch, who launches an ice spell to create a barrier around her.

"I'll make sure you die a most horrible death!" Twinrova fires a devastating fire blast at the Hellspawn, who runs to the side to avoid it.

Meanwhile Setsuka grabs Talim, who's stun by what she just saw, and runs through the battlefield. "Now's our chance! Move!"

"Huh?" Talim manages to break out of her stupor and move her legs.

Twinrova looks down and notices the two women running by her. "You two aren't going anywhere either!" She unleashes a fire spell and traps them in a ring.

"Damn it!" Setsuka draws her sword and prepares to fight the witch.

"This feeling..." Talim mumbles, looking all around her as she senses the dark energy of Soul Edge all over her.

"Don't think you're going anywhere. I'm going to kill you guys too-" As she spoke Spawn unleashes a necroplastic energy blast from his gun to her mouth, burning her tongue. She cries out in pain and grasps her tongue.

"Sorry but you'll have to be satisfied with me, and I have no interest listening to your shit." Spawn fires more normal bullets at her, forcing her to defend with ice.

'That's right! I have to be careful around this man. He's a denizen of darkness like Inferno, so he's being powered by the castle.' These thoughts roam Twinrova's head as she remembers what Spawn is.

As Spawn sets the others free Twinrova shoots a powerful fire spell at him. He raises his right hand and grabs it, crushing the fire in his hands. "I see... The walls of this castle are leaking with Soul Edge's energy. He probably set this up so his followers would gain a powerboost, but it backfired because I'm around!"

Twinrova screams angrily into the sky. She begins throwing random spells all over, causing rubble to fall. Talim and Setsuka head for the stairs to avoid it, and bump into Mitsurugi. The witch shouts, "If only that stupid noble had killed you before his plan would have been perfect! The only ones in that group that should have been affected were that stupid kid!"

"Stupid kid?" Spawn raises his gun at Twinrova and prepares to fire, but curses when he realizes that he's out of bullets. "Damn!"

"Try and stop this spell!" Twinrova fires an ice spell at the ground, locking Spawn in an area where he can't move in close without dealing with frozen ground. He glares up at the witch, who charges up a flame spell.

"You really think you can stop me? With these petty tricks?" he questions the woman in a serious voice. His cape turns into wings and he flies up at Twinrova, his fists clenched tightly. Before she could fire, Spawn gives her a real knock out knuckle sandwich. Twinrova flies upward until hitting the ceiling, and crashing down to the marble floor.

Spawn descends at a rapid pace towards the witch, landing on her back and effectively crushing her spawn, er, spine. Spawn leans down and grabs her head before shoving it down to the floor. As he stands back up his cape reforms into his axe, one he uses to slice off her left arm and legs. "Stay down, or I'll take off something else."

Spawn then returns his axe into a cape and walks off, stomping on Twinrova's head as he does. The witch remains motionless on the ground as he leaves, her blood spilling on the ground.

Back with Mitsurugi and the girls they continue until reaching the second floor, where the burnt body parts of monsters have been sprayed all over. Mitsurugi kicks an arm to the side and says, "Must have been the Hylian."

"Link, the knight and the Greek must be nearby. Let's keep moving," Setsuka says, looking ahead up the stairs at their trail.

Before they could continue, the lights on the entire floor go out, leaving nothing but darkness. "Hey, what happened to the light?"

Suddenly, someone kicks the samurai in the face, knocking him into Setsuka. "Mitsurugi!"

A weird hissing noise could be heard by the group within the darkness, along with a thud noise. Talim says, "There's an evil presence amongst us."

"Yeah, he's on me!" Setsuka complains, pushing the samurai off of her.

Top Floor...

Link, Siegfried and Cassandra manage to make it to the top floor, where a huge door leading to Inferno's quarters exists. The sound of an organ begins to play, resounding throughout the entire castle. Siegfried complains, "What's with that sound?"

"Ganondorf has really had an affect on this guy. He even plays the organ like him," Link says with a scuff. He draws the Master Sword and prepares himself.

Cassandra places a hand on his left one. "Don't worry. We can do this."

"Sure." Link and Siegfried grab hold of the doors and pull them open.

* * *

Julia: We're just about cleared for this chapter.

Morgan: What's happening next time?

Justin: Let's see... In the next chapter Link and Siegfried face Inferno, who totally blitz them when he uses his full power. Thankfully Cassandra sticks by. At the same time Setsuka is forced to help Mitsurugi fight Voldo.


	38. The Final Battles Part 3

**Chapter 38: The Final Battles Part 3; The Triforce's Final Reunion  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, or Metroid. Although that only appeared once, I still think it needs to be mentioned. **glares at lawyers**

* * *

Last Time on ALF...

_Maxi and Taki end their battle with Shura finally, and realize their feelings for eachother. Spawn singlehandedly slaughters Twinrova, empowered by the abilities of the castle, and Mitsurugi gets trapped in fighting some unknown warrior. Link, Cassandra and Siegfried make it to the top floor, prepared to take on Inferno once and for all._

The doors open up, revealing the throne room where Inferno is. He's at his seat playing the organ, something Ganondorf would do on occasion. Link releases a deep breath and charges forward, but is stopped at the last second by Cassandra.

"Cassandra, you can't be too concerned about me!" he tells her.

"I want a piece of him first!" Cassie runs past Link towards Inferno.

"Wait, Cassie!"

"She's as stubborn as you!" Siegfried comments as he watches the Greek warrior charge at Inferno. He's not as fast as either Link or Cassandra so running after them wouldn't do anything.

Link on the other hand races after his fiance. Cassandra comes before Inferno, who still plays the organ, and slashes at him. The fiery demon releases a shockwave of darkness at her, repelling the girl like she was nothing. She manages to roll back to her feet though; Inferno continues to play the organ. Link rushes by Cassie and tosses a bomb at Inferno, destroying his organ. The smoke clears, and reveals Inferno has suffered no damage.

Inferno glares at Link, his eyes giving off the same effect Ganondorf normally would. "Well, I see you're in a hurry to die. Link, right?"

"Quite the opposite; I'm in a hurry to make sure you die... Just looking at you wearing Ganondorf's body really angers me!" Link growls, his eyes giving off that familiar look Sieg and Cass fear.

"That's right, hate me. Unleash your full strength against me in mortal combat," speaks Inferno as he glares at the Hylian. He then realizes what he said and shakes his head from side to side, before saying, "I mean, not that anyway."

"Gladly!" Link raises his sword and swings, releasing Shooting Stardust. The demon jumps out of the way and avoids the attack, glaring down at the Hylian with hate. His attack destroys the organ in the process.

Link charges at Inferno, and immediately slashes at him. Inferno draws Soul Edge and swings to the side to knock away the attack. Flames surround the blade, causing it to change shape. It turns into a lance with an axe head attached to the end. He swings, sending rising pillars of flames to travel towards our heroes.

They each jump out of the way to avoid a horrible burn, but that's when Inferno suddenly appears before Siegfried and jabs him with his weapon, sending him crashing through a wall. He laughs.

"Siegfried!" Link shouts, running at Inferno angrily. His rage begins to take over his thoughts as he wildly slashes at the demon.

Siegfried steps out from the hole in the wall with his armor destroyed. 'I figured I wouldn't be able to stand up against him like this... I'll have to go all out.'

Holding Soul Calibur up high, Siegfried invokes its energy. His body becomes surrounded by crystals, empowering him with the armor he used before. "Link, get back!"

Siegfried prepares to swing at Inferno, who was toying with Link at the moment. Still, Link continues to fight despite Siegfried warning him. 'Damn... He's already being consumed.'

"Link!" Cassandra rushes in and tackles Link to the ground.

"You're wide open!" Inferno raises Soul Edge up high.

Siegfried grins. "So are you! Diamond Spear Wave!" He swings, releasing a flurry of diamond spears at Inferno. As Cassandra rolls out of the way with Link, Inferno becomes impaled by the spear hail.

Cassandra pulls herself and Link to their feet, before smacking Link in the left cheek. "Link, wake up!"

"Huh? What?" Link blinks rapidly, unable to comprehend what happened. 'I lost control again... I didn't even notice this time.'

"Link, you have to stay back. At this rate you'll become whatever you were before," she warns him.

"I can't just hold back. I'll fight back using this," he says to her. Link digs into his bag to grab the magic armor; his Triforce glows before he touches the item. "Super Royal Armor."

Cassandra steps back as his armor materializes on his body. Once in his green armor form he charges at Inferno at high speed. 'I see. The Triforce protects him when he uses it. He'll be safe as long as he wears that armor.'

Siegfried clashes weapons with Inferno, the steel of their blades reacting upon contact. Inferno laughs before saying, "Isn't this ironic? My greatest host, and the reason I've become this strong, is also the one Soul Calibur chose. I guess Claire became desperate if she picked you."

"I think it's a perfect idea." Soul Calibur extends a spike up in Inferno's face, piercing out the skull. This forces the demon to back away in pain. "Who else would want Soul Edge dead more than someone whose life was ruined by it? This will make up for the people I've killed wielding you."

Link jumps on top of Siegfried's shoulder and comes down with a stab right in Inferno's throat. But he's suddenly blocked by a barrier, that repels him and Siegfried. The two roll over the ground, but manage to pick themselves up pretty quickly. Inferno begins to float high up in the air. "How's about we play a little game?"

"I don't like this." Link prepares his shield.

"What?"

"It's called Dodge!" Inferno fires a ball of black light at the two. They jump out of the way. He then fires at Cassandra, who rolls out of the way in time too.

"Are you copying Ganondorf now?" Link questions the demon.

"Dodge!" He fires at the Hylian now. Link raises the Mirror Shield, but suddenly rolls out of the way. Inferno grins and says, "Oh, so you noticed. Your shield can't deflect darkness can it?"

'I figured he wouldn't use a normal light attack...' Link puts his shield away, knowing it won't help him.

Inferno summons several more balls and fires them in all directions. Some go after the dodging three warriors, some hit the ceiling to cause debris to fall, and others miss entirely. Link notices one coming straight at him, and knocks it back at the demon with the Master Sword. Siegfried releases a beam of blue energy at Inferno from behind. 'He'll have to deflect my attack or Link's. What will it be?'

Inferno moves to the side to avoid Siegfried's attack and knocks the ball of light at Link. Link hits back, and a round of ping pong begins between them. 'He can't keep this up forever.'

"Gotcha!" Cassandra, having gotten in close to Inferno while he was distracted by Link, grabs hold of his legs to drag him back to the ground. "Now! Hit him!"

Link smacks the ball at Inferno, who gets pulverized by the attack. Cassandra lets go of Inferno and takes out the bow and an arrow. "Cassandra, now's your chance!"

"Got it!" Cassandra draws the bow and aims at Inferno, her weapon and aim a little shaky. She lets loose the arrow, and thanks to the Triforce it becomes a beautiful golden beam of light. Unfortunately it misses and hits the ceiling, sticking into it with her energy still filling it. "Shit!"

"That was pretty close, humans," says Inferno, having recovered from the ball of dark light. He turns his attention to Cassandra and fires a wave of black flames at her. She screams in pain as she's blown halfway across the room with parts of her clothes burning off.

"Cassandra!" Link rushes to her side, using magic to speed himself up, and grabs Cassie before she could hit a wall. Cassandra begins to breathe heavily from the attack, the flames still harming her body. Link uses an ice spell to blow away the fire, and is thankful seeing she doesn't have any nasty burns. "Cassandra..."

"L-Link...I'm okay. I'm sorry though...I missed," she says, her breathing becoming more regular.

"Forget about it. We can handle this." He looks back at Inferno, and his eyes spot the arrow in the ceiling. It's still glowing with Cassandra's magic energy.

"Monster!" Siegfried releases crystal spears at the monster, who dodges them effortlessly.

"I think it's about time I took you seriously. I can't let that happen again," Inferno says as he floats higher up. He raises his right fist up, and the dark glow of the Triforce of Power illuminates his entire body. Dark flames surround himself as well, and envelops him.

"He has the Triforce of Power too?" Link's eyes widen in fear, believing this may be it for them. As the flames grow bigger, Link realizes what he's doing.

The flames disperse, revealing a boar-like monster in its place. Inferno lands, the ground shaking as he does. Black flames surround his head, and turns it into a flaming boar skull. "I'll crush you all with 100 percent of my power!"

Downstairs...

Mitsurugi stands up, still standing on Setsuka's dress. "Get off my dress!"

The samurai remains silent, his eyes zooming across the darkness of the room. He turns around and draws his sword, but nothing happens. That's when he's kicked in the back, and knocked to the ground away from Setsuka. She finally stands up, and looks ahead to see a blur in the darkness.

'What the hell was that?' Mitsurugi looks around for the attacker once more.

"Raise your sword up!" Talim's voice carries over to him. He raises his blade, and blocks an attack just in the nick of time. He couldn't see whatever was in front of him, but he knows for sure that something's on his katana.

"Right there!" Setsuka draws her blade and slashes in front of Mitsurugi, who she remembers is just behind her. But to her surprise she misses. "Huh? He's gone?"

"That voice is that Setsuka...Where did he go!" Mitsurugi grits his teeth angrily.

Setsuka then realizes something and turns back to Talim. "Talim, was it? Can you really see that attacker?"

"Eh?" Mitsurugi turns to the direction of the voices.

"Well no, but I can tell where he is," Talim says.

"That's good enough. We need you to locate him when he strikes!" Setsuka tells her. Talim nods and scans the room for their attacker.

"Mitsurugi sir! Behind you!" Talim points at Mitsurugi.

The samurai quickly turns around, drawing his blade to block the weapon coming at his lungs. He deflects the blade, the steel on both objects releasing sparks as they pass by and shedding a temporary light in the room. In that light Mitsurugi checks out his opponent: Voldo. 'So that's who we're fighting...'

Voldo vanishes into the darkness, leaving Mitsurugi's side. "I got a look at his face; he doesn't have any eyes to see."

"So how's he seeing?" Setsuka asks him.

"He might be able to sense our presence," Talim tells them. "This darkness gives him an advantage because we can't see him!"

"Then you just have to find him!" Mitsurugi shouts at her.

Before Talim could respond, she suddenly turns around and raises her tonfas. Her weapons manage to block Voldo's weapons, but she's knocked on her back by a kick. "Kya!"

"Talim?" Setsuka calls out. "Talim!"

Voldo stomps on Talim's cheek, pushing her down on the ground. Setsuka heads for Talim following her squeals of pain. Drawing her blade she repels the blindman from the fair skin girl. Setsuka begins slashing wildly in the dark, making a few thin cuts to Voldo's body. Talim rolls onto her feet, clutching her face in pain. "Thank you Miss Setsuka."

"It's okay. We'd be screwed without you anyway," speaks the iai user with a discerning look on her face. Setsuka stands beside Talim. "Where is he now?"

Talim looks over for the assailant, and stops to look above them. "Above!"

Talim and Setsuka dive out of the way, but don't notice Mitsurugi leaping at them. "Prepare to feel the wrath of my blade!"

"Mitsurugi?" After Setsuka calls out his name the samurai slices at Voldo. His polished steel takes claim to Voldo's left arm, severing it from the body. Blood splatters on Talim's face, causing her to go, "Kya!"

Voldo hits the ground violently, hissing in pain from the attack. Talim could see him running off, escaping the darkness. "He's running away."

"Hmph. A pointless battle. How dare you waste my time?" Mitsurugi shouts. "If I ever see you again you're going to hell! Heishiro Mitsurugi's the name!"

"Do you ever shut up?" Setsuka asks him.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up, you murderer!"

"You have no right saying that, you bitch!"

"Please! Stop the fighting!" Talim manages to scream out these words to get their attention, the first time she's ever been so loud in her life. The duo turn to face the girl, and all of a sudden the lights turn back on. This shows the look on Talim's face, smeared with blood and frowning. "Please, put it aside for now. Link and the others still need our help. He's in danger more than anyone else here."

"What? How can he be in danger?" Mitsurugi asks her.

"What's wrong with Link?" Setsuka asks, growing worried over the Hylian already. Setsuka steps over to the young girl, kicking the severed arm aside, and looks into her eyes. "Tell me what's wrong!"

Upstairs...

Link and Siegfried shout in unison as they release their attacks upon the monster Inferno, a beam of light and a wave of diamonds. Both attacks get blocked by Inferno's trident swords, the beam bouncing off and the diamonds failing to pierce. Inferno roars and releases a wave of flames from his body, which knocks both Link and Siegfried away.

Link rolls back to his feet and charges at the demonic beast. He draws the Clawshot and shoots up above Inferno to grapple onto the ceiling. He pulls himself up in the air before Inferno's face, and slashes at his face. Inferno's head is thrown back from his left eye being slashed, but breathes fire at Link as he ascends to the ceiling.

Link sheathes the Master Sword to pull out the Mirror Shield, and blocks the flames. "Have some of that flame come at you!"

"Diamond Spear Wave!" To add to it, Siegfried releases a flurry of diamonds to add to Link's counter. Inferno is covered in a fiery explosion.

Link reaches the top and looks down at the smoke. 'I doubt that'd be enough to finish him...Hm?' His eyes notice the light arrow stuck in the ceiling. 'It's still glowing... That might work, but-'

Inferno comes out of the flames unharmed, and breathes dark flames at the elf. Link raises his shield to block, but his protection fails. He, along with his clawshot are blown off the ceiling and crashes into the ground. Parts of the ceiling fall off on top of him as well.

Cassandra sees him in pain and cringes. 'I have to do something. If Link keeps fighting he'll turn into a monster! But even if I use the light arrows again I'll just miss!'

Her eyes dart up at the ceiling and sees the arrow she missed with still up in the ceiling. 'If I can get that and stab him with it, Inferno's powers will be sealed and I won't have to use the bow!'

Link rises up from the rubble with a scar on his face. He glares angrily at the demon Inferno, showing he's got that look in his eye again. In a growl Link changes at Inferno, but is stopped midway by Cassandra. "Link, stop!"

"Cassandra, get back! He's starting to lose control!" Siegfried says to her.

Not listening, Cassandra lands a kick to his crotch. Link shouts out in pain, Siegfried cringes at the sight, and Inferno pauses before laughing. "Fighting among comrades? You might as well kill him. He's been bathing in the dark energy I've placed around the castle enough for him to level several cities."

Link falls to the ground face forward, clutching his area. "What the hell?-! Why'd you do that for?-!"

Cassandra gives out a deep sigh. 'Thank goodness. It worked...' "Calm down. I didn't hit you that hard."

Link manages to pick himself back up, and although still in pain he finds the energy to keep going. "Thanks. You actually saved me just now."

"He's not overwhelmed yet?-!" Inferno roars in anger and summons a ball of dark flames to shoot at the couple.

Siegfried summons diamonds to protect the two. On the other side of the wall Link says to Cassandra, "I have a plan. We'll distract him long enough for you to get the arrow. When you get it, sneak in and stab him in the stomach."

Link grabs the Master Sword and releases Shooting Stardust up at the ceiling, knocking the arrow down to stab into the ground. Inferno plows through the diamond wall at Link and Cassie, only for him to throw the Master Sword in his left eye. The boar monster roars in pain; he grabs the sword to pull out, only for its magic to repel itself from the demon. As this happens, Cassie slides underneath the beast to capture the arrow.

Siegfried releases a flurry of diamond spikes at Inferno, some of them piercing into the boar-like monster's body. Link grabs his blade and jumps on Inferno's head, holding onto the horns for support. 'If he's right and I am drawing in Soul Edge energy, then I can do this!'

Link's body begins to release dark energy, and with it he begins to hack away at the demon's head. The demon struggles about trying to knock him off. As he continues to wail on Inferno's head, red vein marks begin to course from his heart to his eyes. 'Stay calm! You can't let him take control!'

Cassandra manages to reach the arrow and grab it. "Got it!"

Inferno eventually grabs hold of Link and pummels him into the ground. "Link!"

"Siegfried, get his tail!" Link shouts.

Inferno raises his blade to dissect Link's skull, but that's when Siegfried throws Soul Calibur at its tail. The blade pierces the tail, and its purity quickly begins to poison the boar demon. In pain, Inferno releases Link, which allows him to roll out of the way. "Cassie, now!"

Cassandra runs up to the boar and prepares an attack, but it pulls its tail out in time to smack her away with its free hand. Link runs over and catches her. "It's too hard to get in close!"

"He's not good when he takes attacks to the tail, so I thought that would work. Guess he overcame it..." Link begins to look over the demon's body, searching for a weakpoint.

Siegfried runs up to Siegfried to grab Soul Calibur, and releases an energy wave at its back. This of course hurts the monster, but the pain is so much it falls to its hands and knees. "Huh?"

"That did better than I thought..." Siegfried says as he backs away from the creature, anticipating its next move.

The demon stands up and turns to Siegfried. Link then gasps when he sees a large wound mark on the demon's back. With experiences in swords he can tell a blade wound from looking at it, and he can tell that that's a stab wound.

'But we never stabbed him in the-' That's when it hits him.

"Link, you don't think..." says Cassandra as she looks to Link. As Inferno prepares to battle Siegfried Link and Cassandra remembers a similar wound inflicted.

_Without warning, a blade pierces into Inferno's back. It appears to have stopped, and it can no longer go through, no matter how much Zelda pushed the Master Sword in. Tears begin to come down her eyes as she did this._

_Everyone in the room looks at the incident and realizes what has happened, Link especially. Inferno walks forward to get the blade out, and turns around to face Zelda._

"Cassandra, aim for his back." Cassandra nods in agreement, still clutching the arrow. "I'll make an opening, and you sneak in from behind."

Link charges at Inferno, and with top speed he grabs hold of the demon's tail. He opens his mouth and takes a huge bite out of it. Inferno roars angrily before flinging its tail about. The beast tosses Link over to Siegfried, who manages to catch him. "Thanks Siegfried!"

"Hang in there. He's coming!" As Link gets to his feet, the demon stomps over to the two. The hylian warrior prepares himself, his eyes looking behind the beast at his beloved Cassandra. Siegfried raises Soul Calibur, awaiting the monster to make its move with a calm expression on his face.

Inferno roars angrily at the two swordsmen, but fails to notice the approaching Cassandra behind it. She leaps into the air and lands on the beast's back, stabbing the light arrow in the fleshy wound exposed. Cassandra leaps back off of the demon, as the arrow takes effect. Golden light escapes from the wound, consuming the now shrinking body of the monster.

Inferno falls to its knees in pain, roaring as the arrow's purity wrecks apart Soul Edge's energy. Inferno's body reverts to his original form, that of the flaming head humanoid. Soul Edge the sword reverts to a crimson blade that looks to be completely composed of blood. The guard of the sword looks like bat wings, the middle of it has a skull face and above the head is the eye.

"No! This can't be!" Inferno complains as he tries to move.

"Now!" Link and Siegfried charge at Inferno. Soul Calibur surrounds Siegfried's body with energy, as it changes shape; it now resembles Soul Edge in appearance, but the face is feminine, the entire sword looks like it's made of blue crystals, and instead of an eye a bright light escapes and overshadows the rest of the weapon.

Link jumps at Inferno, performing a Jump Attack that slices off Inferno's free arm. As this happens Mitsurugi, Setsuka, and Talim reach the room. Soon Spawn joins them and watches the fight's climax.

Siegfried slashes at Inferno, chipping off the right side of his face. Inferno releases flames to burn them, but the Master sword and Soul Calibur protect them. "No! I refuse to let it end this way!"

"Shut up and die, monster!" Cassandra shouts from a distance.

Link charges in using Hyper Dash, and pierces the demon's stomach. What he didn't expect is that Inferno has grabbed hold of the sword, and with a swift motion he tosses the sword away. "You're wide open Hylian!"

Inferno releases flames from his body to burn Link. Instead of blocking or running away, Link grabs hold of Inferno's shoulders and turns him around. "Siegfried, now!"

"What?" Siegfried lifts Soul Calibur up.

"Stab him in the wound Zelda and Cassandra have prepared. Finish him off!" As he speaks, his body begins to feel the effects of the flames.

'That's right...' Siegfried charges at Inferno with Soul Calibur. Inferno tries to struggle free, but Link keeps himself as close to the demon as possible.

"Finish this! End Soul Edge's evil reign of terror with your own hands!" Claire speaks within Siegfried's mind.

"Finally! I shall shake off my horrid past!" With a battle cry, Siegfried jabs the blade into the wound on Inferno's back. The sword comes out from the back and punctures Link's stomach. Cassandra covers her mouth in shock. "Link!"

"I'm good!" Link kicks himself off of Inferno and rolls over the ground. Cassandra runs over to him the moment he's free.

Inferno's body begins to freeze over. 'I've failed. Everything I've worked for...'

His mind goes off to the scars he's seen on the walls of his castle. 'That's it! I still have that!'

Cassandra helps up Link to his feet. The two watch as Inferno's body freezes over.

"Don't think it ends here...You're all doomed. If not by me, then her!" These are his last words before the demon's body explodes into shards of ice. Soul Edge falls to the ground, before the eye closes and the blade shatters to pieces.

"We did it... It's over." Cassandra hugs Link with a happy look on her face.

"Yes! They did it!" Talim squeals happily. Setsuka smiles while Mitsurugi crosses his arms and looks away.

Spawn 'hmphs' and turns away with his eyes closed. 'So, he finally did it.'

Outside the army of monsters hault their assault upon feeling Soul Edge's energy disappear. A Lizalfos growls before it runs away; this act leads the other monsters to escaping. Kilik and the others rest, glad that the battle has finally ended. Xianghua then states, "They did it!"

"Men! Victory has fallen upon us!" Girardot shouts as he raises his weapon; even though they were less than half in numbers, the warriors brought by Spawn raise their weapons in victory.

Back inside the castle Taki and Maxi continue up the stairs. The ninja stops when she notices a strange feel in the air. 'Soul Edge... It's...'

"What's wrong?" asks the pirate.

"He's gone. Soul Edge is gone..." she says to her beloved, before reaching in to hug him. "Link and Siegfried did it."

Upstairs Siegfried turns to Link, and as Claire says, "Thank you. Thanks to you, we've finally destroyed Soul Edge. Now humanity can move onto a better future...Now that there's no more evil to-"

"I wouldn't say that." This interrupts Claire, who now turns to Link. The Hylian turns to Cassandra, who gives him an approving nod.

"There is still one more evil presence. If left alone it will become worse than Soul Edge," says Cassandra to the spirit of the holy sword.

Link staggers over to the possessed knight, as Claire asks, "What are you doing?"

Without a word, Link makes a single step forward. His blade swings, slicing at Soul Calibur. Having been caught off guard by the sudden action Claire couldn't move to dodge in time; now there's an obvious blade mark where the face is.

Elsewhere...

Sophitia is busy carrying supplies to her family bakery. As she dodges she notices a terrible scene plastered in town. One of the buildings has been completely destroyed. She drops her supplies and heads to the scene, glad to see no one was hurt. 'Thank goodness.'

Her eyes take to notice the many blade marks around certain stones left of the building. She places a hand to it, and gasps when she feels a familiar energy coming from it. 'But why? Why am I feeling this energy?'

* * *

Julia: It's over...not really. Next time Link faces Soul Calibur.

Sora: And what would a Zelda game be without a countdown escape?

Yusei: The final chapters will take place. Soon Link's long journey will come to an end.


	39. Catastrophe Part 1

**_Chapter 39: Catastrophe Part 1: World Distortion_  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, or Metroid. Although that only appeared once, I still think it needs to be mentioned. **glares at lawyers**

* * *

Last Time on ALF...

_Link, Cassandra and Siegfried finally face Soul Edge in battle. Meanwhile Mitsurugi teams up with Setsuka and Talim to deal with Voldo, managing to sever an arm. With that done they head up to help Link and the others, who are busy fighting against Soul Edge's true form in the shape of a pig boar demon. Through teamwork they manage to defeat Inferno and destroy the sword. That's when Link attacks Soul Calibur out of nowhere. Elsewhere, Sophitia discovers a monster attacking her home._

Sophitia heads home as fast as she could. With the news of her home under attack by a new threat has caused worry to overcome her senses. She's even forgotten to bring her purchases with her; all that mattered is the safety of her family.

"Rothion! Patroklos! Pyrrah!" calls out the mother, looking for her family. Sophitia gasps in shock when her eyes catch the sight of her husband gagged and tied to a chair. He's on the floor, showing he was trying to escape. "Rothion!"

Sophitia rushes to her husband's side to undo his gag when a hand grasps hold of her mouth; her look of surprise is understandable, since the fact that someone snuck up on her is a bit of a surprise itself and that the hand feels nothing like a humans.

Back To Action...

Link swings at Soul Calibur once more, causing the possessed knight to block with it. That didn't help; Link begins to pound at it with the Master Sword, chips of the crystal weapon being plucked off with each strike. Claire backs away and shouts, "Stop! What do you think you're doing?"

"I am putting an end to Soul Edge." He states, raising his sword high up before charging.

"Go get her, Link!" Cassandra cheers.

"What's going on? I thought Soul Edge was destroyed. Why is Link attacking Soul Calibur?" Talim questions as she witnesses the scene unfolding.

"I don't like the look in that guy's eyes either," Mitsurugi says as he watches Link fight.

Link makes a stab at Claire, who instead uses Siegfried's body to block. He pierces into the knight's chest armor, but stops halfway upon realizing what he's doing and pulls out. Claire then questions him by saying, "How dare you attack me? You're trying to destroy the light of humanity!"

"I had my suspicions when you didn't heal Pyrra when she was sick, but Edge Master and Algol confirmed it for me," says the Hero of Time as he raises the Master Sword skyward. Claire fires a flurry of diamonds at Link, who deflects them all masterfully. "You're a sword created from purified shards of Soul Edge to destroy Soul Edge. A spiritual weapon made to destroy can never stay peaceful."

Link dashes at Claire, who exposes Siegfried's body so he would hit him instead. But he figures this and instead punches at her sword arm, forcing the warrior to drop it. Claire then states, "You're a bit of a hypocrite. Didn't you make that sword so you could destroy your enemies?~!"

Instead of answering, Link stabs at Soul Calibur's core. The sword flashes light and releases energy spikes that attack him. The energy inflicts wounds onto Link's body, but also causes the Master Sword to reflect a pure golden light from its power source. 'This light... The Master Sword has returned to its true strength!'

The light of Soul Calibur begins to dim the longer Link's blade remains in the core. The sword splits into two dead halves, before Link draws his sword up from the ground and looms his sight over the weapon. He then sheathes it away and calls off his armor.

"Link, you did it!" Cassandra cheers as she jumps over to him. She manages to hug him, but the hug knocks him off balance.

"Cassie, get off!" he complains, lifting her up off of him. He plops back onto his behind though as his vision falters, the fatigue from using so much power taking its toll.

"Link, you okay?" she asks, helping him up to his feet.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me up." Link, with Cassandra wrapping her arms around him, walks over to the others. Siegfried joins them as well.

"But why did you destroy Soul Calibur too?" Talim asks.

Link almost falls to his knees, but manages to catch himself. "I had to. Algol left memories inside of me telling me about the truth of Soul Calibur; it's a sword made of the shards of Soul Edge purified to fight against it. It was made specifically to destroy Soul Edge, and would stop at nothing to achieve its goal.

"That's why it only bothered saving me from that curse, and didn't heal Pyrrah or Necrid. That's why the mirror Kilik has a shard of was needed to constantly purify it. I couldn't let it become twisted and grow to be even worse than Soul Edge."

"I see," Setsuka says with interest. "You were entrusted this task by Algol when he passed on."

"I guess, you might be right." Link peers his eyes at the exit. "Let's go. I bet the others have noticed."

Downstairs, Twinrova crawls herself over to the walls, feeling Soul Edge's energy is diminishing. 'Inferno has been defeated, and we have failed to defeat the elf once again... But I'll be damned if I don't kill him!'

Twinrova releases a pulse of energy into the castle walls, which quickly spread throughout the entire structure. She then collapses, the loss of blood finally granting her final breath.

Taki and Maxi are still climbing the stairs to the main floor, when the castle begins to shake. Maxi, noticing it last, asks, "What's going on?"

"Oh no. This..."

Upstairs Link and the others could feel the castle shaking. Dust begins to fall from the crevices along with loose debris, and Link soon knew what was happening. 'Uh oh.' "Uh, we gotta go guys!"

"What's going on?" Siegfried asks.

"It's just a bad feeling, but I think the castle is about to collapse on us."

"What?" Everyone shouts in shock.

"We better get going then!" Mitsurugi heads for the steps in a rush. Siegfried grabs hold of Link's other side and together with Cassandra head down the stairs with the others.

Taki and Maxi hurry up themselves, scaling the stairs as fast as their injured bodies can go. "We have to get out of here before we're crushed!"

"What about Link and the others?" Maxi asks, his eyes focused on the steps so he doesn't fall.

"I'm sure they know and are on their way out. There's no way any of us will die by such a desparate tactic." These are her words before she grabs hold of Maxi's abdomen and increases her speed. Maxi does his best to make sure his feet can keep up, even as they hit the next floor.

Soon pieces of the building begin to fall down, a ceiling of rubble about to crush Link and his friends. Spawn uses a charged shot to blow it up. "This place is gonna fall too quick for you to run out the door. Make a new exit!"

"What about Maxi and Taki? They're still at the bottom!" Spawn scuffs at Link's worries and blows a hole in the wall. He then shoots the floor.

"I'll go get them. Just go!" he says, heading down the hole in the ground.

"How are we gonna just jump out this window without us dying?" Cassandra asks as she looks out at how high up they still are. There's no way they could jump down, especially with their injured party.

"Leave that to me. The elf and I can soften the ground when we hit," says Mitsurugi as he draws his katana.

"Oh, I see. But will that work?" Link asks.

"I'll help too." Cassandra takes out her blade.

"That should do it. Let's get going!" Mitsurugi grabs Link and jumps out the hole with him. Siegfried, Cassandra, Setsuka and Talim jump with them, and good thing too; the floor caved in below them.

Mitsurugi, Cassandra and Link reveal their swords and release energy attacks, creating an explosion underneath them that successfully cushions the ground they fall upon.

Back in the castle Spawn lands before the ninja-pirate couple Taki and Maxi. "So you guys are alive afterall."

"Spawn!" Taki speaks in shock.

"I'm getting you out of here." Spawn grabs hold of them and, using the elements of wind, levitates upward through the hole.

Spawn bursts through the top of the ceiling with both warriors in his grip. The castle collapses just as they break free, turning into nothing but rubble. Those who witness give a sigh of relief as they see the warriors who entered are okay.

Cassie and Sieg carry Link over to the others while Spawn allows Maxi and Taki to move by themselves. Xianghua comes up to them and asks, "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, thanks," Link replies.

At the moment he moves off of Sieg and Cassie to walk on his own. Unfortunately his body gives off a sudden pulse of dark energy that brings him down to his knees. Cassie grabs him, saying, "Link, you need to rest."

Link gives out a sigh. A part of him hasn't realized he lost so much energy from Soul Edge's fight. "Why do I feel so tired?"

Spawn sighs and looks away as they all gather. He notices Tira is still around while Girardot and his men have left. The heroes cheer happily as they've realized all their hardwork and determination have finally paid off. Link holds his hand out, forming Farore's Wind.

"Everyone gather together. I'll teleport us back to Wolfkrone." Link holds the spell together while using both his hands, his magic still weak.

Siegfried stares at the dirt, his eyes narrowed and seemingly lifeless. Taki notices and asks, "Siegfried, you okay?"

"Yeah...It's just that, I feel so much better. Destroying Soul Edge, atoning for my sins, that's all I had. But when Hilde knighted me, I felt like I gained a new purpose in life... I guess now, I can live for my friends." These words gain the attention of all the heroes who fought beside him valiantly. "That's what I will do."

"I think that's a good idea." Link states.

"What about you, Link? What's left for you?" Kilik asks, this time referring to the Hylian hero.

Link gives off a smile; he came from another world to stop an evil sword from affecting his home, and ended up losing someone he loved and gaining someone else who would stay by his side. Zelda is gone, but he has Cassandra by his side. He also has the promise he made to her, to give up fighting and put her worried heart to rest.

"I don't think I have to fight anymore. It's time for me to rest and relive my life. Right, Cassandra?" Link turns to the new love of his life, who returns her own smile.

"Don't worry Link. You can rest now; we're all free from Soul Edge..." Cassandra tells him, hugging the man she loves to give him all her warmth. With that Link activates his spell, and everyone teleports back to Wolfkrone.

The rubble within the castle gives way, and out rises the Darknut duo Grimm and Orz. "Ah, my head! It feels like it's bleeding!"

"It is," Orz comments, rubbing his shoulders and pushing rocks and stuff off of him. "I'm amazed you survived that."

"I'm amazed we survived this!" Grimm rubs his bleeding spot and looks around. "Hey...I don't feel Soul Edge anymore."

"...Crap!" Orz smacks the side of his head, realizing what that meant. "We're doomed! Soul Edge is destroyed, and now there's nothing left for us to do!"

"Well, if that's true then shouldn't we cease to exist?" Grimm asks as he rubs his bad eye.

Orz takes a moment to contemplate this. If they were beings created from Soul Edge then they shouldn't be alive anymore. 'Huh, now that I think about it we're not reliant on Soul Edge then.'

"So, what now?" Grimm pushes the dirt off of him, glancing at the empty scenery around him.

"...Wanna go find a bar?"

"Hell yeah!" Orz and Grimm bump fists and prepare to leave. "Screw Soul Edge and fighting the Hero of time. We don't have to do anything anymore!"

"I still wanna beat up that nun chuks guy for hitting me in the back of the head, but meh..." Orz and Grimm drag themselves out of the rubble and head towards the nearest, non-malfested city.

Unfortunately as they just begin their travel, their eyes spot a figure up ahead. Orz's eyes widen in shock. "Oh no."

"Is that-" Before Grimm could finish, the figure fires a ray of red energy that blasts them into pieces.

Back In Wolfkrone...

Link and the others appear on the outskirts of the city, only for their eyes to widen in shock. Yun-Seong comments, "What in the hell?"

"My god!" Talim cries out, holding her mouth.

Wolfkrone has been torn apart. Rubble decorate the streets, some people have become drenched in injuries and blood, and even Hilde's castle has gone up in flames.

Siegfried charges as fast as he could towards the city, making a beeline for the castle. All the others save the really injured, Spawn and Tira follow after him. "What happened?"

"We destroyed Soul Edge, right? So what happened?" Cassandra asks.

"Master, that reminds me, what's left for you? Soul Edge is gone, so what's left?" Tira asks her master.

"That's not important." Spawn heads off away from the kingdom.

"Spawn..." Link, with Cassandra's help, moves closer to the Hellspawn. "I know things might be hard for you, but people here could still use your help."

"I was never in it to help you. Whatever the problem is, you will be enough to deal with it." Spawn continues to walk off, his servant Tira still following him. "Thanks for killing Soul Edge though."

"No problem," Link replies.

"Come on Link. We have to go see to the others." Cassandra pulls Link over to the kingdom where the others are.

Siegfried continues running through the kingdom towards the building. Before he could reach it a guard approaches him. "Are you Sir Siegfried?"

"Yes?"

"Lady Hildegard has asked for you upon your arrival. She's at the hospital just south of here," he says to him.

'The hospital.' "Thanks!" Siegfried treks south of his position, and thankfully the guard leads him into the direction. The others spot him changing directions and follow him to the hospital.

He soon reaches the hospital and enters. There he finds Hildegard watching over a man laid on a stretcher. She notices Sieg and says, "Siegfried, thank goodness you've returned."

"What happened to you? Who attacked the kingdom?" he asks.

"...I can't describe it... It's just...it was a monster," she murmurs, limping over to the knight. Louder she says, "It was a monster! Somehow it possessed the powers of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, and decimated the kingdom in mere minutes!"

"Soul Edge and Soul Calibur? But that's impossible! Link and I destroyed the spirit swords in Ostrheinburg," says the warrior. "Could Soul Edge's influence remain in effect even after death?"

"That still doesn't explain why it has Soul Calibur's influence." Siegfried turns around to face Taki and the others after she speaks.

"Oh well. We're just gonna have to find and kill this thing too," Yun-Seong says.

"You didn't do anything!" Mina states.

"What's going on?" Cassandra asks as she and Link enter the hospital.

"I caught most of what's going on...So there's still one more threat," Link says as Cassie lays him in a chair. "I'm sorry about your kingdom."

"It's okay. At least Soul Edge is gone." Hilde gives off a weak smile at that.

"Whatever this thing is I'll take care of it." Mitsurugi tells her. "Link and Taki may have gotten to shine, but it's my turn to have some fun!"

"Don't even think about it!" Taki tells him. "Nobody does anything until everyone's in peak form. Link is too exhausted to face this threat, and Soul Calibur is gone. Not to mention me and Maxi are too injured."

"It'll be fine. I still have two potions for us to share." Link takes out a full jar of yellow stuff. "This should heal all of our wounds."

"Bah! I don't need to rely on you pissants!" Mitsurugi heads out the hospital by himself.

"Mitsurugi-"

"Leave Heishiro alone," Taki says to Link. "Even if he does find that thing he's not the type to be completely overwhelmed." Her eyes dart to Yun-Seong.

"Hey! What's that look about?"

"Link, you just focus on healing. Me and the others ca-Oh god!" Cassandra's eyes widen in shock when she realizes something. "Where's Amy?"

Link's eyes rise up when he realizes that suddenly. He suddenly finds enough energy to stand and head out the door. Cassandra stops him at the last second, just as Hilde says, "Link, don't worry! She's safe! When the attack happened the monster didn't go after her."

Link stops at that moment and turns to the red haired beauty. "She's still in the hotel hiding."

Hearing that he breathes a sigh of relief. He turns to Cassie to ask her something, but before she could she says, "Of course. I'll go see to it she's okay."

"Thank you." Cassandra guides him back to the chair and heads off to find Amy.

"I think we should come up with a plan to find this monster," Kilik says.

"I agree but first, who here has internal bleeding or a slash wound?" Taki asks.  
"Link shared his red potion with us from before, but it should be shared by those who really need it."

"Then can I have some too?" Hilde requests of the team.

"I am bleeding on my wrists." Talim raises her arms, showing the wounds she got from the old, bone man.

"So myself, Maxi, Link, Talim and Siegfried. Will that be enough?" Taki turns to the Hylian as she lists the names.

"It should be fine. I won't need to take a drink anyway," Link says, taking out the green bottle. "This should be enough for me."

Link tosses Taki over the yellow jar. "If you drink the rest, be careful. The only one here who can make more is Ivy, and this green one only restores magic and fatigue."

"Okay, thanks for the information." Taki takes a drink from the yellow potion.

"Does it taste good?" Mina asks.

Taki finishes her drink and breathes out saying, "It tastes like wine water."

"Gimme!" Maxi snatches the jug and takes a sip. He then spits some out, complaining, "It tastes like vinegar!"

"I know." Taki smiles deviously.

"You tricked me!" Everyone else laughs at his predicament.

"Still, it did the trick." Taki unravels her bandage on her right arm, revealing the wound has healed rather quickly.

Back with Cassandra she's on her way towards a building, and comes before two guards standing by a room. "Cassandra Alexandra?"

"Yes?"

"We've been waiting for you. The child is inside." The two step aside to allow her entry, and she quickly enters the room. There she finds Amy sitting on a bed, looking out the window. She turns to see Cassandra, and a faint smile appears on her face.

"Amy, thank goodness!" Cassandra dives for the girl and hugs her.

"I'm okay. The monster didn't come here," she tells her.

"Thank goodness..." Amy's eyes widen. She still isn't use to her being so worried about her. "I'll take you to Link in a few."

"It was a skeleton." This is the single explanation Hilde could give. "A skeleton came out of nowhere and laid waste to us. It just showed up and attacked, without warning or reason."

"Could it be Revenant?" Taki asks as she flexes her wrists. "That skeleton who worked for Zasalamel? Or maybe Zasalamel himself?"

Siegfried shakes his head. "That's impossible. He was obliterated; I saw with my own eyes."

"Either way, that monster is all that stands between us and true victory," Link says as he picks himself up and sighs. He hasn't drunken the green potion yet so he's a little tipsy. "We'll go looking for it tomorrow. Right now I suggest everyone take the night to rest."

"I guess." Kilik takes Xianghua's hand and heads for the same hotel Cassandra went to.

"Link, you get some rest too." This is Talim's suggestion.

"Right." With this everyone heads for the hotels to rest for the night.

Link approaches the room Cassandra and Amy are in, and inside he finds them together chatting. Cassandra sees him and says, "Link, you shouldn't be moving so much!"

"It's okay. I'll be on my back the rest of the night." Link plops onto the bed between the girls. His eyes glance towards Amy and he says, "It's good that you're safe Amy."

"...Thank you," is her reply.

Link lays his head and soon closes his eyes. Cassandra rubs his back lightly as he tries to sleep. '...I just want all this to end... In the end I have to return to Hyrule and tell them what happened.'

That's when he comes to an idea he never realized. Eventually, he'll have to make the decision where he'll have to live in either his world or hers. He's not totally sure he can bring Cassandra to his own world, especially when she'll be living amongst beings who speak another language. It might be unfair for her to live in his world because he wants familiarity.

'I never realized that...'

Later That Night...

Kilik looms his eyes over the ground before them. He stays sitting on top a porch with Kali-Yuga on his right shoulder and the Dvapara Yuga around his neck. He looks like Batman in this scenario.

"No sign of trouble yet," he murmurs as he awaits the next sign of danger. While it's true Link says they need rest, Kilik on the other hand can't find himself resting in this situation.

His patience pays off when he senses Soul Edge off in the distance. "Finally, it's making its move."

Kilik heads inside his room and awakens Xianghua. "Xianghua, wake up."

"Huh? Kilik?" His lover rubs her eyes as she awakens.

"Go get Maxi and the others. We're going after the monster." Kilik leaps out of the building window to the ground, using his staff to break his fall.

"Kilik!" Xianghua heads out the door, grabbing her sword along the way.

Kilik jets in the direction of the demonic presence. As he nears the creature he could feel a deep energy inside of himself growing, a familiar, cursed energy. 'I have to keep this under control.'

Soon he reaches his target, the skeletal warrior Revenant. "So it was you, Revenant."

The undead skeleton draws dual knives and charges Kilik. The bo master sweeps at Reve, who jumps in the air. The skeleton throws a small set of knives at Kilik, who twirls his staff to deflect them. Revenant approaches Kilik and throws a series of slashes at the defending Kilik. He then cuts the fight short by picking up a knife thrown at him and tossing it at Revenant's left eye.

The undead cries out in pain before Kilik comes up and jabs him several times in the chest. He then slams the right end of the staff in the side of his face. As Revenant falls to the ground Kilik could hear, "Kilik," coming from behind him.

He turns around briefly to see Xianghua coming for him. "Where are the others?"

"I got Talim to do it. You can't just go after a monster on your own!" she says to him.

"Don't worry. This skeleton is nothing," Kilik retorts as he takes hold of his Kali Yuga and uses it to propel himself towards Revenant and kick him in the face. He then stabs the staff through his face, as if playing billiards. Revenant collapses, his skull shattering to pieces.

"You did it!" Xianghua shouts happily. 'He's right. That was too easy! It's like he wasn't even trying!'

"I guess you didn't need to call the others," he says as he twirls his staff and hits the ground with it. "Let's get going."

Before they could leave, Kilik hits the ground painfully. As if in slow motion, Xianghua looks to Kilik and slowly watches as he falls to the ground. Her eyes suddenly widen before screaming, "KILIK!"

Before she could react, a sphere of energy encases her, tearing into her skin and shredding her clothes to pieces before sending her a mile away towards a building. The entire building explodes and collapses, leveled from that one attack. As the rubble collapses onto Xianghua, her eyesight picks up what faintly looks like a blurry figure walking towards her. Her eyes shut before she could see what happens.

That Morning...

Xianghua's eyes open suddenly. Her vision still blurry, she could only make out a few familiar faces as she slumps her head to the side. "Where...am...I?"

"She's coming to! Xianghua, you okay?" Taki asks the Chinese warrior.

"What happened..." she asks slowly, her throat still sore from rubble in her throat. She then gasps and asks, "Where Kilik?-!"

Taki and the others couldn't say anything. The silence greatly worries her. Talim then speaks, "We don't know. There was no sign of him when we found you."

"What? T-that's impossible!" Xianghua coughs after having to raise her voice.

"There's more..." Taki says, adding more to her worry. She holds out a mirror to the injured woman, and she gasps upon seeing her red eyes and pale skin. "Whoever did this turned you into a malfested."

"W-What? But how?" Xianghua begins to panic. First not only did someone attack her and Kilik and that person also kidnapped him, but also she's a monster that only Kilik could purify. She soon begins to hyperventilate.

"Xianghua, calm down! Control your breathing!" Taki says, holding her down to calm herself. "We need you to explain what you saw..."

Outside of the hospital room she rests in, Link manages to stand by the door long enough to hear everything. 'Just what are we facing this time? Am I good enough by myself?'

As he contemplates his strength, his left eye quickly turns white for a split second.

* * *

Julia: And so we reach the final arc.

Kenshin: Sounds dark. What's he gonna do?

Manabu: I hear there's a planned sequel in the works. But here's a preview of the next chapter anyway.

Preview:

"We've been warped to Athens?"

"Sister!"

"But why would he single us out one by one?"

"So it's you..."

"Your powers are being held back because of the parasite deity inside of you."

Chapter 40: Catastrophe Part 2:


	40. Catastrophe Part 2

_Chapter 40: Catastrophe Part 2: The Trap _

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, or Metroid. Although that only appeared once, I still think it needs to be mentioned. **glares at lawyers**

* * *

Last Time on ALF...

_Link destroys Soul Calibur and everyone returns to Wolfkrone. Before they could celebrate there is still one last threat that managed to destroy the kingdom while they were gone. As Link wonders if he'll live in his world or Cassandra's, Kilik and Xianghua are attacked. This results in Xianghua becoming malfested and Kilik disappearing._

Taki exits the room Xianghua rests in. She still can't believe what happened; how a being of such power could corrupt Xianghua, who showed some form of resistance to Soul Edge before, must make this new threat even worse than Inferno. "There's no way either of us can face it so easily."

Her eyes draw to Link, who she notices is in deep thought. "Link, what do you suppose we do?"

Link's eyes glance at her for a moment. Taki gasps when her eyes note something about the way he's looking at her; it's as if the Link she remembers is in a sleep state, and the Link looking at her is one uninhibited and will do things that could scare her.

Suddenly though Cassandra comes up and asks, "How is she?"

Hearing her voice, Link breaks out of his 'trance' and turns to her. "Oh, sorry, I was dazing out. Taki?"

Taki remains silent, even as Link speaks to her. She can't believe he didn't react differently even though he should have. "Taki!"

"Oh, sorry!" Taki snaps out of her silent. "Xianghua's still gonna need some rest. Soul Edge's energy is still changing her body."

"Damn...If only Kilik was here to use that shard of his..." Cassandra says, remembering how it worked for Pyrrah.

Far in the skies, a skeletal figure can be seen floating above them all. His hands draw symbols in the air as he chants. Before Link could make a response, the entire building begins shaking. Cassie falls into Link's arms, who asks, "What's going on?"

"Link, outside!" Taki looks outside the window, and spots a veil of darkness surrounding the hospital.

The darkness encases the entire building, causing it to vanish into thin air. The fellow citizens of Wolfkrone witness the strange event in shock.

Elsewhere in Athens the building appears in the middle of the city, surprising many citizens who were there at the time. Link and Taki head to the nearest window, and their eyes widen in surprise seeing how they've somehow ended up in Athens.

"How did we get here?" Link asks as he looks around to confirm they're in Athens.

"What kind of monster are we dealing with?" Taki questions, her fingers tightening into fists.

"Link, what happened?" Cassandra asks.

"We're in Athens," he replies, causing her to gasp.

"But how? How the hell did that happen?" she shouts hysterically.

'Why did it bring us here?' Link begins to ponder this thought, wondering what would it gain by bringing them to Athens. All that could really happen is this thing drawing these innocent people into trouble, like Rothion and Sophitia's children.

That's when it hits him. "Taki, go tell the others what happened," Link says to the crimson ninja. "Cassandra, we have to head for your house."

"What?" She makes a sudden gasp. "You don't think something happened, do you?"

"That's why we're going." Link takes her hand and heads for the stairs, dragging the short blond swordsman with him. Taki meanwhile heads for the room where everyone's gathered near Xianghua.

Back in Wolfkrone...

"...Okay..." Mitsurugi mutters as he stares blankly at the spot where the hospital use to reside.

Athens...

Link and Cassandra rush towards the Alexandra bakery as fast as they could, until they could spot her home within sight. Cassandra enters the bakery, and finds Rothion and Patroklos asleep. Strange though, they're tied together in a chair.

"Rothion! Patroklos!" Cassandra dashes to their side and cuts them loose with a well placed slice of her sword. The two males hit the floor, waking up upon impact.

"Ugh, what happened..." Rothion looks up while rubbing his head, and spots Link and Cassandra before him.

"Aunt Cassie! Uncle Link!"

"What happened? Who tied you up?" Link asks them.

"Where's sister and Pyrrah?" Cassandra adds.

"I don't know... We were about to visit the shrine to give our praise to Hephaestus, when we were attacked by something...I was unconscious the entire time. I didn't even get a good look at it..." he tells them, still rubbing his injured head. "But Pyrrah was with us when it happened..."

"So he kidnapped Pyrrah, and maybe even Sophitia..." Cassandra grows enraged thinking of what this monster may have done to her family.

Link grits his teeth and hits a wall with the side of his right arm, breaking into the hard solid. Cassandra and the others lift their heads up to Link, whose eyes are currently hidden underneath his hair bangs. Seeing this, Cassandra rises up to calm him down, knowing she herself can't let her anger get loose around Link.

"Link, calm down. It's not your fault," she tells him, placing her hands on his left arm. "We'll save them, so think positive...Like I can even think that though."

Link pulls his arm out and looks at Cassie in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Back at the hospital outside the warriors have all gathered together. While some members were dumbstruck, the rest are silent. Taki is about to tell them to regroup at Sophitia's home, when she feels something.

'I feel it, the two spirit swords nearby. It must be that thing...' Taki looks off into the direction of the force of energy. She then looks left of her position, and discovers one more force nearby. 'There's more? How can there be more than one in this area? ...Or maybe it's trying to split us up.'

"Taki, you felt it too, didn't you?" Talim asks of the red ninja.

"Yes...This monster is setting up a trap for us." She retorts, gathering everyone's attention.

"Whoa, what are you saying babe?" Maxi asks.

Taki nods in response. "There are two separate energy sources where Soul Edge and Soulcalibur are leaking. It's obvious that this monster is luring us apart so it set up a decoy for some of us to chase after."

"So what should we do?" Hildegard asks.

"We'll walk into this trap." Setsuka states, becoming the center focus now. "Link and his friend must know what we felt so he's probably on his way to a location. Where's the direction of each one?"

"The farthest one is in the forest near where the cathedral is," Taki tells her. "The second is near the plaza."

"That's totally obvious." Yun-Seong states. "If one is so far out of town then that one must be the monster."

"Maybe, but at the same time it might be too obvious..." Taki mutters, pondering how to go about this. "Link will definitely be on his way. Maxi and I will head for the plaza. Siegfried, you go to Link and rendezvous with us. Talim will lead the others to the source outside of the city and keep the monster as busy as possible. If it's not there return to the plaza as soon as possible."

"You'll send all of us against this thing?" Mina asks.

"5 stand a better chance than 2," Hildegard says. She grips her weapon tightly before turning her attention towards the outskirts of the city.

"Then that's the plan. If it's true and our enemy is at your location we'll head for you right away." Taki grabs Maxi and dashes towards the location.

"Let's get going then," Setsuka says as she leads the group ahead. Siegfried diverges from the group to go for the bakery.

On the way a skeletal being appears above the traveling 5, and a portal materializes before Talim, Mina and Yun-Seong. The skeletal figure releases a force of wind that pushes them in, and closes the portal up. Setsuka prepares her stance along with Hilde.

"It's you!" shouts the princess.

"So it is splitting us up." Setsuka focuses her attention on the monster, keeping herself from blinking so as not to lose him incase he moves. The iai practitioner watches as the monster raises its left hand, and summons a ball of darkness. That's when she notices it's wielding a scythe and has a golden eye. 'A golden eye? Isn't that-'

The monster fires at Setsuka, who's still fazed out from looking over it. "Setsuka!"

Hilde grabs hold of Setsuka to take the hit, believing her armor would protect them. However the attack blows them away, and eradicates her armor to pieces. As they fall to the ground, the monster walks closer to them, holding up glowing pieces of bones.

Back with Taki and Maxi they manage to reach the source she was sensing, only to find a blue crystal shard and hilt within an alleyway. Taki picks it up, and realizes it's Soulcalibur. "Soulcalibur's hilt? That thing took it from the rubble?"

An explosion goes off just behind them, and Taki's eyes widen in fear when she realizes that's where they left their friends. "Oh no."

Siegfried manages to reach the bakery, where he spots Link and Cassandra exiting together. "Link!"

"Siegfried, the energy is back," Link says to him, the couple stopping before the swordsman.

"Yeah, Taki and the others are on their way there," Siegfried tells them.

"What about Amy? Where's she?" Cassandra asks, anxiety filling her voice.

"She's still inside the hospital."

"Thank goodness. Link?" Cassandra turns to Link, awaiting him to make the first move. "Where's the demon?"

"That's strange...First I felt Soul Edge and Soulcalibur outside of the city and then Soulcalibur in the city..." Link cups his chin as he continues to track the energies.

Siegfried blinks. "Wait, Soulcalibur? Not both it and Soul Edge?" 'Then it really was a trap.'

"Yeah...And now I can sense it in the city." Link's words cause Siegfried to gasp.

"Let's go!" The three head for the energy source where Setsuka and Hilde are.

Taki and Maxi make it to the scene, where they see Hilde and Setsuka sprawled over the ground in pain. "Hildegard! Setsuka!"

Maxi bends down to help up the red haired princess of Wolfkrone. He can see her skin has become green, just like Xianghua. Seeing this angers him. "This bastard is really pushing it..."

"Taki! Maxi!" Link shouts out. The trio make it to their position, where they find people have run off in hiding and their friends are in the center of what can only be described as a battlefield.

Cassandra cups her mouth in shock seeing Hilde and Setsuka as malfested. "No...Just like Xianghua..."

An angered Link looks out to the outskirts of the city. "It's out there. I'll take it out now!"

"Link, you, Cassandra and Siegfried take them back to the hospital and treat their wounds," Taki orders, turning her eyes to where the monster is at the moment.

"What? But-"

"Link, I can get to the others faster than you three. We'll hold it off the best we can." Taki grabs hold of Maxi and takes off.

"Taki!" Link reaches out to grab her, but it's already too late. "Damn. Why couldn't she have taken me?"

'Thank you Taki. Link needs a moment to calm down...' Cassandra thinks as she helps Setsuka towards the hospital.

Back To Action...

Talim is tossed over to Yun-Seong, who crash into a tree. Seong Mina slams hard into the dirt, before a foot stomps hard on the back of her head. She coughs up blood, speaking, "You bastard..."

Her eyes gaze up at the monster that attacked her, who raises its weapon and swings down at her skull. Before it could a tiny bomb flies in its face and explodes. This releases a brilliant light that blinds all figures who saw it. In that instance a red blur rushes in and scoops up Mina along with Yun-Seong and Talim. The light dies, and the monster's eyesight begins to return.

"I thought it was impossible, but now I see it's true..." Taki says as she lies the unconscious bodies of Talim and Yun-Seong together. Maxi lays Mina next to them, and turns his eyes to the monster.

The monster is a human shaped being with a body composed of bones. His stomach holds a bright blue ball of energy that seems to be swirling. Around his waist is what appears to be a kilt made of skin as well as shoulder blades. His right eye seems to be absent altogether, unlike the left eye which is golden. He holds a scythe in his right hand.

"This is so gross," Maxi says as he looks at the freak from top to bottom. "Is that really him?"

"That golden eye is more than enough proof..." Taki charges at the monster, drawing both her blades.

A swirl of energy surrounds the skeleton, repelling the red ninja. He then comes forward and swings, slashing into Taki's stomach. Blood goes flying out from her wound, even as she recovers and lands on her feet. 'That was close. I was lucky to suck in my stomach to avoid losing my organs...'

Maxi comes swinging wildly at the monster, who manages to get hit a couple of times due to unreadable flow his weapon has. Eventually he grabs the pirate's weapon and pulls him face to face, grinning.

Back with Link and the others Siegfried enters the hospital room and finds Hilde and Setsuka in horrible condition. "Hildegard..."

"I can't believe this happened..." Link finishes wrapping up Hilde's chest wound, the worse of her injuries.

"Here." Cassandra hands Link a cloth for him to wipe blood with.

"Thanks Cassie..." he says, turning his attention back to Hilde.

"Link, don't beat yourself up over this. It's not your fault..." Siegfried says to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. If anything he's the one who feels worse about it; Hilde has suffered enough from Soul Edge.

Setsuka soon shifts in her sleep. Her eyes open slightly. "Setsuka!"

"Link..." The blond iai master looks up into Link's eyes. The elven warrior gains a look of worry in her eyes. "Good. You're okay..."

"Setsuka, do you know what it was? What attacked you?" Siegfried asks, lifting her head up and resting it on his chest.

Setsuka's eyes begin to close, just as she mutters, "Zasalamel..."

The trio of eyes belonging to Cassandra, Siegfried and Link widen in shock. In unison they shout, "ZASALAMEL?"

Back at the action the skeleton monster releases a stream of energy at Taki and Maxi, which creates an explosion that sends them flying down a hill. "Just what are you doing now Zasalamel? How are you alive?"

"Disappointed?" Zasalamel approaches Taki and knees her in the stomach, causing her fresh wound to expand. This new pain causes Taki to cringe, but not as much when the skeleton stabs his free hand into her chest. This attack punctures her flesh and allows him to grab bones.

"LET GO OF HER!" Maxi strikes Zasalamel with Rising Dragon of the Zodiac, straight in the face. This attack knocks him away, forcing the monster to release Taki. Maxi manages to kneel down and hold up Taki, who's coughing up blood. "Taki, are you okay?"

"Maxi, I'm...fine...Just help me up..." Maxi helps Taki to stand, and watch as Zasalamel stands. "Soul Edge and Soulcalibur are gone! Are you still going to try and kill us?"

"Of course I will!" Zasalamel begins chanting a spell, summoning a sphere of dark energy.

"Hinotama no Jutsu!" Taki fires one of her spells back, gaining a direct hit. But as the smoke clears her eyes narrow in horror as both Zasalamel and his spell are perfectly fine. Apparently he blocked using his scythe. "What?"

"Stay back, babe!" Maxi lays Taki down and charges at Zasalamel, using Rising Dragon of the Zodiac. Zasalamel raises his scythe and blocks using the staff part. "What?"

"Such fragile existences..." He repels Maxi back to Taki.

"Is this out of revenge? Because you can't forgive us for destroying your plans?" Maxi shouts angrily as he picks himself up.

"...The only thing I can't forgive is myself for not to realizing why he always won!" Zasalamel releases his spell at them.

"Taki!" Maxi grabs Taki and runs away. His attack hits Maxi dead in his back, blowing away skin and blood on his back and sending him into the forest.

"MAXI!" Taki screams as they hit a tree. Maxi slumps into her arms, falling into unconsciousness. Taki moves his back into view, and gasps when she sees how horrific his wound is. Tears begin to fall from her eyes believing him to have died.

"No! I won't let you die!" Taki immediately lays him face forward and takes out her emergency first aid. She didn't have much time to apply any treatment, for Zasalamel can be seen slowly approaching them.

Screams can be heard minutes later.

...

Link and Siegfried rush through the forest, Cassandra coming up behind them. Link stops for a moment, sensing two forces of Soul Edge nearby. He can also feel Soulcalibur in one direction. 'That must be Zasalamel, but what's the other one?'

Link heads into the direction of the single energy force, and soon the group comes to find Taki and Maxi. The group gasp in shock seeing Maxi's horrible wound, while Taki herself has it just as worse. With so many wounds plaguing her body it's hard to believe she could be alive.

But their worries disperse when she breathes out. "Taki!"

Link holds Taki up, resting her head in his lap. Siegfried tears off a cloth and Cassandra takes out the med kit she brought with her, using both items to treat Maxi's back.

Taki's eyes begin to open. "Link...Siegfried...Cassandra..."

"Taki, what happened? Was it Zasalamel?" asks the Hylian. Taki nods in response.

"Link, you have to be careful... He's become so much stronger," she mutters, finding it hard to gather strength to speak. Soon Taki passes out, dropping her head onto his lap.

"Taki? Taki!" Siegfried raises his head and looks up into the air.

"All that's left is..." Zasalamel holds his hand up in the air, before he grasps it.

"So that's what's going on..." Siegfried says as he crosses his arms over his chest armor. "Zasalamel was suppose to have died absorbing Soul Edge and Soulcalibur, but managed to survive. Not only that but he turned into a monster possessing the power of both. Now he's back and acting independent...But why is he after us even though both of the spirit swords are gone?"

"Isn't it obvious?~!" Cassandra shouts. "He wants revenge on us! We're the ones who destroyed the weapons!"

"Maybe...But why would he single us out one by one?" That's when Siegfried comes to a sudden realization. His blue eyes glance at Link, as he mumbles, "Don't tell me-"

Link and Siegfried suddenly raise their heads. Link speaks, "Zasalamel's energy is growing!"

His eyes turn to just south east of their position. That's when the Hylian hero says, "He's calling out to us..."

'He doesn't realize it then...' Siegfried looks to Link, who remains focused on the task at hand. His eyes widen when he sees Link's have turned white. His eyes return to their normal blue color, as he walks towards the direction of Zasalamel.

Cassandra takes hold of his hand, pulling him back to her before he could go any further. Her eyes give off a look of desperation, already fearing for his life. "Link...Remember to be careful."

Siegfried places a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."

The trio of warriors head for Zasalamel's location. As they run Siegfried could feel the scar on his face itch. Soon they reach his location, up top a cliff. There he stands, the skeletal monster Zasalamel, looking out into the forest below him.

"Zasalamel!" Link shouts to the freak.

"You really took your time getting here, Hero of Time." Zasalamel turns around to face them, revealing the only eye he has left, the golden one in his left eye socket. His skull has a crown of bones completely attached and horns growing out of his cheekbones. The purple meat left on his bones tighten up as he flexes himself. "I assume this would make a better battlefield for us, now that no one else can get in the way."

"What's that?"

"Zasalamel, what's the meaning of this? Is this simply petty revenge?" Siegfried asks him.

"I am no longer Zasalamel." The orb in his stomach glows as bright as a star. "I have exceeded past humans. The spell I've placed upon myself to reincarnate eternally was a curse I didn't see coming, so I sought many ways to die permanently. After constant failed attempts I then realized I could end my existence by using the soul destruction properties of Soul Edge. But when I claimed the sword for my own it failed to drain me, and that's when I realized I needed Soulcalibur too.

"This led to me orchestrating Soul Edge's growth and Soulcalibur's restoration, which worked perfectly." Zasalamel pauses for a moment to take a few steps to the right. As he does he says, "As I spent my last mortal life formulate my plan however I came to discover a world called Hyrule, and the legend of a warrior who would rise whenever evil threatened the land." He stops to turn back towards the trio. "I knew I couldn't let you ruin my chance, so I opened a portal to an alternate realm and lured you there to trap you. I even used a shard of Soul Edge to revive Majora so he would destroy Termina along with you.

"When that failed I sent another shard to a wizard dedicated to reviving an old enemy of yours. But then that woman became Inferno's host and kept us from targeting you." Hearing this Link and Cassandra gasp in shock. "After using your magic energy to restore Soulcalibur all that was needed is for you to get out of the way and use the spirit swords' energies to destroy my soul...

"This is the end result, Abyss." Zasalamel, called Abyss now, holds his hand out to them and releases a bolt of lightning.

"Mirror shield!" Link raises his shield and deflects it, but the attack is avoided at the last second. He then draws his sword and glares at Abyss, his eyes gaining a different look now.

"Those eyes...It seems I really have to destroy you." The abyssal monster raises his scythe high in the air.

"Don't worry Link. We're here for you," Cassie says to him before drawing her sword. "It's three against one, simple!"

Abyss calls forth a black void of darkness on both of his sides. Out from them step from left to right Sophitia and Kilik. The trio could only look upon the two in shock seeing they were safe, before realizing they've changed.

Sophitia is wearing a truly revealing attire, resembling that of a Greek goddess. She has on a white see-through veil over her chest strap, which only covers enough of her breasts to mash them together, and a skirt made of the same material over thong-like panties. She wears shoes similar to what she always wears and a veil over her left arm attached to two golden bands. Her face is covered by a glass and gold helmet with a diamond situated at the top. In her hands are the Omega Sword and the Elk Shield.

Kilik wears a golden, Roman-like chest armor along with a matching helmet. This helmet resembles a phoenix head, with a beak that covers his face down to his nose. Around his left arm are several golden bands and in his right hand is the Kali-Yuga. He wears light blue pants with a phoenix design flowing on the skirt attached behind him.

Cassandra's face goes through a state of shock, happiness and then confusion seeing her sister. Link, while feeling the same as Cassandra at this point, has to divert his eyes; looking at Sophitia in such an attire is picking at his inner desires. Siegfried is having similar problems. On the other hand, looking at Kilik is bringing worry to the Hylian.

'Where's the Dvapara Yuga?' Link asks himself in his head. The mirror shard Edge Master gave him is missing.

"This should even the odds a bit." Abyss raises his hand out, and Kilik charges at the group first. Sophitia follows after, raising her blade and swiping through the air a single time.

Siegfried draws his zweihander and prepares for battle. "Remember, they're obviously under his control. I can feel Soul Edge inside of their bodies."

"How? You lost Soulcalibur's influence, right?" Link asks, his eyes not leaving Kilik or Sophitia.

"We'll talk about that later." Kilik leaps at Siegfried, who blocks with the flat part of his weapon. The staff master lands and twirls his weapon, smaking the knight in the face several times. Link comes in and blocks the attacks with his shield.

Sophitia comes lunging at Link, kicking his shield out of her way and stabbing at his face. Link leans to the right and avoids her attack before kneeing her in the stomach onto Kilik. "Link!"

"That bastard. He sent our friends against us knowing we wouldn't be able to fight back," Siegfried murmurs as he watches the controlled warriors stand up.

"Cassie, Siegfried, I need you guys to try and keep Kilik and Sophitia distracted," Link says before darting eyes at the monster. "Zasalamel took Kilik's mirror shard. If I get it from him maybe we can use it to save Kilik from his control, then he can free Sophitia."

"That's a good idea," Cassandra says.

"Yeah. I don't remember Xianghua having it when we found her." Siegfried notes, resting his sword on his shoulder.

Kilik and Sophitia make their charge. "Siegfried, I'll take my sister. Can you handle Kilik?"

"I can manage." Siegfried slams his blade into the ground, repelling the bo master. Cassandra comes up and drop kicks Sophitia, who blocks her feet with her shield.

Link charges through, going past his friends to reach the monster. Abyss raises his scythe Irkalla and clashes blades with him. "This will be your final moments! You and your friends will fall into the eternal abyss!"

* * *

**End Chapter**

Kenshin: This chapter may be the longest one we'll have to do.

Yusei: Next chapter Abyss fights Link, Siegfried fights Kilik and Cassandra fights Sophitia. Things don't look well though, and eventually Link has to drawn on unexpected help.


	41. Catastrophe Part 3

_Chapter 41: Catastrophe Part 3: The Masked Titan's Return  
_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, Spawn, or Metroid. I hate doing this, but I have to. I'm beginning to feel no one reads my stories either, so this is just kicking me when I feel down.

Kenshin: ...Okay, so enjoy the show.

Manabu: If you're curious Kilik is in his SCV outfit, and Sophitia is dressed as Elysium.

Last Time on ALF...

_The group of heroes, excluding Mitsurugi and including Hilde, all find themselves transferred to Athens by their new mysterious enemy. They begin their search, right when Link and Cassandra discover that it also kidnapped Sophitia and Pyrrah. The monster takes out Hilde, Setsuka, Talim, Seong Mina, Yun-Seong, Maxi and Taki before luring Link, Siegfried and Cassandra to a secluded location. The monster reveals itself to be Abyss, who used to be Zasalamel, and sends possessed warriors Sophitia and Kilik after them.  
_

Abyss tosses Kilik to the ground. Raising his scythe high in the air, he slashes and cuts open a portal to another dimension. The portal opens up to a dark blue dimension, that sucks both himself and Kilik inside before it seals shut. Abyss takes Kilik and walks, until he comes before Sophitia scantily clad in her new uniform.

"Kilik!" she shouts in shock before he tosses the monk to the ground. "I don't understand; why do you need him? You already have Pyrrha and I said I would do what you asked!"

"This is to assure my victory," replies the monster. "I can drain Soul Edge's energy from the malfested, but that won't be enough. You two will absorb power from the Astral Chaos and wield Soulcalibur's powers."

"You mean this world?" Sophitia looks around. "What does this have to do with Cassandra and the others? When will you cure Pyrrha?"

"It's like I said before; your daughter is reliant on Soul Edge, but since I'm the only lasting source of it if I were to die she would." This is the answer the monstrous skeleton gives her. "All you need to do is shut up and become stronger, so you can protect me."

"So just shut up and do as you command...and then you'll cure Pyrrha?" Abyss places his scythe right under her neck.

"Simple as that." Suddenly, light begins to gather around both Sophitia and Kilik. "It's begun. Now all that needs to be done is wait."

Back to Action...

Link raises his shield and bashes at Abyss with it, who is only slightly dazed by the attack. He uses this moment to kick the monster in the side of his spine and stab at his right eye socket. Abyss bends his neck to avoid the blade and calls forth electricity around his right hand, using it to shock Link from a distance. The Hylian rolls over the ground and quickly recovers.

Abyss cackles as he summons a sphere of electricity. He then fires it at Link, who diverts it to the side with a single swipe of his sword. "Your attacks are annoying."

"Not as annoying as you. You've survived through so much I'm beginning to wonder if you yourself aren't cursed to immortality," speaks the skeleton as he brims with energy.

Kilik slaps Siegfried's right arm, causing him to loosen his grip on his weapon. Kilik then sweeps his weapon along the ground and trips Siegfried to his feet. 'Is he much stronger now?'

Cassandra gets pushed to the ground, raising her shield to block Sophitia's sword from piercing her eye. "Sister! Get a hold of yourself!"

Sophitia kicks Cassandra, having her roll over to the side. Before Cassie could stand her sister makes a graceful spin and slashes at her stomach. Luckily she manages to block, but gets blindsided by a punch to the face by her shield. Spit flies out of Cassandra's mouth before she's sent brushing across the ground.

Siegfried grabs hold of the Kali-Yuga and using his superior strength tosses Kilik in the air. He then rolls to take hold of his sword, taking a stance as he awaits Kilik. 'This would be so much easier if it was an opponent I could kill.'

Sophitia raises her blade in the air and strikes at Cassandra, who raises her left leg to kick the sword out of her hands. She jumps at her sister, rolling down the hill until the elder hits a boulder with her back. "Sis, I'm sorry."

Cassandra raises her shield and prepares to bash her head with it, attempting to knock her out. But Sophitia jabs her sister in the stomach, hard enough to send her a few feet away. Sophitia grabs hold of Cassie's sword, that she dropped from that last attack, and charges at the little sister. Cassandra raises her shield, but she feints and slashes above her skirt on the waist. Blood splatters the ground.

Link fires an ice arrow at Abyss, who raises a shield of energy to bounce it off. He then takes out the Megaton Hammer and secretly attaches a rope to it. 'I'll have to catch him off guard.'

Link swirls the hammer before tossing it at Abyss. "Bah! Just what can that do?"

Abyss knocks the hammer away and raises his scythe. But what he didn't expect is Link to pull himself towards Abyss using the hammer's momentum. Pulled above Abyss Link draws the Master Sword and slashes at his head, slicing off a horn. As Link falls over the cliff he pulls the hammer towards him and tosses it back at the stunned Abyss, who ducks underneath just in time.

Link is pulled towards Abyss, kicking the monster in the face as he flies. Link rolls over the ground painfully. 'Well that worked, sort of...'

Link returns his hammer back inside his bag and charges at Abyss, but stops when he hears a scream. "Cassie?"

He turns around to spot the woman he loves slashed across the right part of her chest. She falls backwards, dropping her shield in the process. "Cassandra!"

"An opening!" Abyss slashes at Link, cutting at his back the moment he tries to run for her. The Master Sword's sheath falls off his back and blood drips down his body.

"Link!" Cassandra turns her attention quickly to Link before returning to her sister. Sophitia raises her sword and stabs down at her sister.

'I can't fail. Link needs my help!' Now filled with determination, Cassandra raises her legs and entangles them around the sword arm. She then uses her physically fit body to lift herself onto Sophitia's face and flip her to the ground. Once on the ground she detaches herself and crawls over to her shield.

Sophitia picks herself up and charges at Cassandra, not noticing dirt over her helmet's visors. Cassandra shouts, "Wake up, stupid sister," and throws the shield with all her might at the helmet. It strikes, knocking it off her face and sending her tumbling backwards.

The mask hits a boulder, the glass shattering to pieces, and Sophitia hits the ground hard. In the process she drops her weapons, allowing Cassandra to take hold of them. Sophitia stands back up, showing blood leaking down her forehead. Seeing her face Cassandra gasps when she notes Sophitia has an angered expression; this confirms for her that she's not being controlled.

"Sis?"

"I'm sorry Cassandra, but I have to..." Sophitia replies.

Siegfried swings down at Kilik, who blocks using the Kali-Yuga. Kilik turns the staff to force the sword into the ground and punches Siegfried's cheek. Siegfried adjusts his sword and swings, striking Kilik's side using the flat part. Kilik backs away for a few steps and drops the Kali Yuga, leaving Siegfried to raise his sword over his shoulder. "This has to be perfect..."

Kilik stretches his arms out, and twin blades appear in both hands. This surprises Siegfried, but not enough for him to drop his guard. Kilik charges at Siegfried, who stabs his sword into the ground. He then blocks one blow with his armored left arm and grabs the other sword with his bare hands, pulling him forward. Siegfried makes a spin and grabs hold of the monk's head, bashing it into the flat part of his newly made blade. This causes Kilik's helmet to come off, and leaves him stumbling.

Kilik and Sophitia each grab their heads in pain. Abyss, noticing this, grits his teeth angrily. 'Curses. I'm losing my hold on him.'

Link picks himself up just in time to avoid another attack by Abyss. After somersaulting to his feet he slashes and releases Shooting Stardust to repel the demon. Abyss releases energy from his body to shield himself, pulling it off successfully. Link raises the Master Sword and prepares a dash.

Abyss reaches his hand out and summons a ball of darkness. He fires it off, forcing Link to block using his sword. The attack forces him backwards, before covering the Hylian in an explosion. Link jumps out from it with only parts of his outfit torn and smoking.

Kilik leaps at Siegfried, who makes a timely dodge at his attack and bashes his head into the sword one last time. This time, Kilik stumbles to his knees as he gazes into the eyes of Siegfried. "S-Siegfried?"

'I got it!' Siegfried punches Kilik in the face, knocking him to the ground for the final time. With his opponent incapacitated Siegfried turns to Sophitia and Cassandra, noticing the two sisters have stopped fighting.

"Sister, how can you be helping that freak?" asks the short haired younger sister.

"You could never understand...I have to do this, to save Pyrrha." Sophitia raises her hand up into the air, and a sword appears from thin air. "I'll knock you out so you can't get in the way."

"That's stupid! Even if he's holding her hostage you can't-"

"THAT'S NOT IT EITHER! SHE WILL DIE IF HE DOES!" Sophitia's words bring Cassandra to widen hers in shock.

"What?"

"What?" Link hears what she said, just as confused as his fiance.

"Why have the gods led me into such a horrible fate?" Sophitia charges at Cassandra, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't back down!"

"Sophie..." Cassandra kicks her shield at Sophitia, causing her to lose balance. Cassie then dashes forward, getting stabbed in order to push Sophitia backwards. Ignoring her injury for the moment, she turns around and drops her behind on the elder sister's face, which gets caught over the shield to add extra damage. Sophitia's head spirals a bit, taking in that painful blow, before falling unconscious. "I couldn't back down either."

"All that's left is you..." Link charges at Abyss, his attention now backed to focusing on the enemy.

"Not so fast." Abyss reaches from behind and holds out an unconscious body. This is the 8 year old daughter of Sophitia Alexandra, Pyrrha.

Everyone freezes at the moment. "Pyrrha!"

"Yes, I'm familiar with her name. She's such a pretty little girl, isn't she?" Abyss raises her up for all of them to see, using his magic to levitate the girl.

"You bastard! Let her go!" Link shouts.

"If I did do that, would that really be in your best interest?" Abyss raises the girl over the cliff.

"Wait, no!" Cassandra prepares to run, but stops knowing what he would do.

"I believe it's best that this girl does die, for your information," says the chaotic monster. "There's actually something interesting about this girl none of you realized I believe."

"What are you talking about?" Link questions, staring into the monster's golden eye. As he faces Abyss his free hand reaches for his bag of items.

"Why don't you throw your weapons down? Maybe she'll be safe." Link grits his teeth before walking over to the sheath to grab it. He then sheathes his sword inside. "Throw it over the cliff."

"Damn..." Link looks at the Master Sword and Mirror Shield before tossing it over the cliff.

"And the bag." He sighs, knowing he would have said that. Link grabs his pouch and tosses it over the side. As it hits the ground the armor falls out and rolls near the Master Sword. "You two as well. Throw away your weapons."

Cassandra curses under her breath. She and Siegfried grab their weapons and toss them over the cliff. Abyss chuckles lightly, before it turns into full blown laughter. "So this is the limit of the Hero of Time."

Abyss releases several balls of energy at Link, who takes them with no means of defense. Cassandra grits her teeth in shock. "Link!"

"Stay standing!" Abyss shouts to the Hylian, who forces himself to stand. The attacks he took have destroyed some of his clothes, even causing him to bleed from the mouth. "The Hero of Time, the warrior destined to become the chosen hero of the gods capable of saving the world from any threat, can't give up the life of a girl he's suppose to fight against."

"What?"

"Haven't you realized it yet?" Abyss brings Pyrrha closer to him. "Even before I took her your Pyrrha has had Soul Edge's power trapped inside of her."

The trio of sword users raise their eyes in shock. "Huh?"

"What?"

"No!"

"Oh, but it's true." Abyss places a hair in the little girl's hair, ruffling it about. "From what I can call upon I feel that she's had this power ever since birth, but because of her gentle nature she's been able to suppress it. I doubt not even you could sense it when you met her. I've noticed something strange about her ever since she was afflicted by Soul Edge's power that one time, before I used her and her brother to lure you into a trap. Tira and Raphael were the only ones who noticed.

"So instead of kidnapping Sophitia and possessing her to work for me I told her that Soul Edge's disappearance would mean the death of her precious daughter. It worked too; with the safety of her daughter at stake she couldn't say no and went with me willingly."

"But that's...a lie isn't it?" Link asks. He receives an answer in the form of another blast of energy.

Cassandra holds her mouth, keeping herself from crying or yelling out. "Link..."

"So this is really all you can muster...Then you living was nothing short of a fluke." Abyss raises his scythe high before grabbing hold of Link and tossing him towards the edge.

"So it's true after all..." Siegfried charges at Link with all the strength he can muster, before Cassandra could even attempt to.

Abyss swings, releasing a sword beam towards the Hylian. Siegfried manages to grab hold of Link in time to take the hit, his armor receiving the whole blow. The two go tumbling over the edge, leaving Abyss to laugh.

"Link!" Cassandra looks around for Sophitia's sword, finding it by a boulder. She picks it up and faces Abyss, who turns his attention towards the lone woman.

"Don't bother. Everything's going according to plan." Abyss sends Pyrrha flying towards Cassandra, who manages to catch the young girl. "I hope she enjoys taking care of your future malfested niece."

Abyss levitates and descends over the cliff to the two male warriors. Cassandra almost chases after him, but upon realizing her wound is more serious than she thought she stops to take care of it. Her attention then goes to Sophitia, Pyrrha and Kilik, who all need to be taken care of, and so she gathers them together. That's when she notices the Triforce of Wisdom resonating with Pyrrha's body. 'So he was right...'

Back with Link and Siegfried they've fallen down the cliff towards an open area. Nayru's Love deactivates, releasing its protection over the two. Link lifts himself up and helps the injured Siegfried, whose armor has been destroyed, by turning him over to see the damage. "Siegfried! Siegfried!"

The former knight of Soulcalibur grabs hold of Link's arm, pulling himself up. "Link, it's you."

"Eh?"

"Abyss' reason for using our friends against us, his reason for kidnapping Pyrrha, they're all so he can kill you." Siegfried states, ignoring the blood running down his back. "He's so dedicated to defeating you he can't stop anymore. He never bothered killing any of us but his main focus is you."

"I see." Link lowers his head. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault then."

"Don't think that! Just because he did all this to kill you that doesn't make it your fault; it's his." Siegfried manages to sit himself on his knees. "Just remember who you are. You are the Hero of Time; even if things are tough you're destined to fight so others can be happy, so no one suffers the sadness of war, right?"

Link muffles his mouth a bit, before turning into a smile. "You're right, thanks."

Link raises his head up upon sensing Abyss. He rolls over to the Master Sword and draws the blade, noticing Cassandra's sword and the armor in arm's reach. The catastrophic monster lands, turning to the Hylian. "So you're the only one left, Hylian. It's about time I ended this long, drawn-out battle between us."

"Zasalamel..." Link grabs the Magic Armor and activates it, whispering, "Super Royal Armor," and assembling the Kokori armor on his body. He then picks up Cassandra's Nemea Sword and charges at Abyss.

Abyss swings his scythe horizontal, but Link blocks using the Master Sword. He then stabs Abyss' ribcage with the Nemea sword in the right hand. Abyss releases energy to repel Link. The monster swings diagonally, who uses his longsword to force the blade to scrape down the edge of his weapon. He then stabs at the spiraling sphere of energy with the right sword. Abyss knocks it away with a knee block.

The two face eachother in a standoff. Link fakes left and comes in from the right, leaving Abyss to barely dodge. Their backs face one another. The two fighters move in a circle, keeping their enemy in the blindspot. "So, you went through all this trouble just to kill me, right?"

"Of course." Abyss quickly turns, and Link responds with the same speed. The Master Sword slashes at the scythe's staff, allowing Link to counter his incoming attack. His next move is kicking the monster in his right leg, bringing him down to a knee. With the Master Sword still locked, Link raises his other sword to stab him with, but Abyss repels Link with his aura.

The hero rolls back to his feet and faces his opponent. He takes a step to the left, and Abyss copies his movement. He makes another step, which is mirrored, before he slowly goes into a full burst. The two relocate further into the forest, nearing the cathedral without realizing it.

Cassandra comes down the side of the cliff towards them, hiding behind a rock to watch the fight. She clutches her stomach in pain, where the blade wound Sophitia gave her remains. "Link, good luck."

They stop just outside of the town that led to the cathedral. That's when they clash. "Your friends are the only reason you've managed to survive all of the battles you've been through; they're essentially your power. I came to realize that without them your chance of survival would end. Not only that, but you wouldn't be able to fight against the very people you worked so hard to protect. Your friends are your weakness."

Link slashes at Abyss, but when he blocks his wounds begin to release blood. Abyss sees this and kicks at his wound, but Link raises his feet and run up the monster's body. Link raises his longsword and slashes down at Abyss' skull, who ducks underneath in time. A piece of bone gets cut off though. The Hylian flips in the air and lands behind him. He then turns around quickly, making a double spin attack. Energy releases from the swords, carving into Abyss' body and sending him flying. The skeleton crashes into the town, causing everyone to gather nearby curiously. They run away in fear once they realize what it is.

Link charges into the town, brushing past the crowd of people. He sees Abyss releasing a kenatsu attack, a sword beam that could kill all the humans around them. Link steps forward and raises his swords, slashing at the sword beam to protect everyone behind him.

"It's not just your friends either; you can't let other people get hurt either!" Abyss laughs as Link tries to hold back the attack. Eventually he manages to slice it apart, and glares at Abyss. The monster raises his scythe and prepares another attack, one Link is more than prepared for.

"Everybody, run!" Link shouts, and they immediately listen. The monster releases his attack upon Link, who manages to dodge this time now that there's no one around to take the hit.

Link throws the Nemea Sword at Abyss, who knocks it aside to block. He then charges in and makes a half moon slash that launches the skeleton in the air, before jumping upward with a Hyper Dash. This attack combination allows Link to stab Abyss in his orb and send him crashing into the closest building. The Hylian and his opponent crash through the floors and hit the bottom floor.

Abyss stands over top Link, who rolls out of the way to avoid the attack. Link stands up and attacks, but gets repelled by a form of psychic attack. He gets blown out the door, and rolls away to avoid another sword beam. He then heads for an untouched building and hides behind it.

"Oh, a game now, huh?" questions the abyssal monster. "I rather enjoy playing demon!" He destroys the building Link's hiding behind.

Link cringes when he hears what he said about the game demon. 'I didn't enjoy it when Majora played, so what makes him think I'll enjoy it now?'

The Hylian escapes towards the outskirts of the city. 'How can I get to him now? I left all my items back at the cliff.'

Link feels his senses go off, and notes the cathedral is close by. "I can't believe I ended up back at the cathedral. This place is nothing but bad memories."

"It's interesting that you bring that place up," says the abyssal monster as he approaches Link from the skies. "This world, the underworld that lies on the other side of the well, your world, and Termina...there's a gap between the dimensions that connects these worlds together, and they all revolve around the realm that cathedral leads to. The hole that opens to that gap is much less stable within the Ottoman Empire, making it easier to open a gateway to and through."

"What are you talking about?" Link asks in a questioning voice.

Abyss slashes the air, and from it opens a rainbow dimension, one Link knows far too well. The rainbow soon turns dark blue. "It's the Astral Chaos, a world that exists in the gap between dimensions. But you have no need to know that."

Link prepares himself, but gets caught off guard when Abyss fires red lightning. Link tries to block, but the attacks get through his defenses and fry him. Abyss then fires a ball of dark energy, which blasts Link towards the direction of the cathedral. He crashes through the grey bricks, and gets buried by falling rubble. In the process he drops the Master Sword just inches away.

Abyss cackles evilly, making a funny little dance when Link fails to come out for five minutes. "Yes! I have finally defeated him! But...I should cut his heart out just to make sure." Abyss approaches the cathedral cautiously, just as the clock bell rings. He approaches the hole Link made, and gets kicked a few feet away. The skeletal monster picks himself up just in time to see who attacked him.

Out from the hole steps a towering silver haired version of Link. He has a white mask over his face and his normal blue eyes instead of clear white orbs. In his left hand is the Master Sword, or what looks to be a golden wing guard version. The wings that make the guard have extended further and turned gold, resembling the red phoenix that resides on the Hylian Shield design, the golden core shines brightly, the hilt is gold with a blue line going down in a spiral shape, and there appear to be six extra symbols rising up from where the Triforce is. There's also a blue gleam coming from the sword. He also has a symbol of the moon on his cape flowing behind him.

"I was hoping I'd get to meet up with the man who led me to this body," says the voice of the Fierce Deity inside of Link. The voice is so deep and threatening compared to Link's almost as if he was an older version. "I also must thank you; for if not for you, Link wouldn't have been so desperate to make our body-sharing relationship more beneficial for the both of us."

"What?" Abyss stabs his scythe into the ground and approaches Link. "Just who are you?"

"So you had no clue at all, the powerful deity of the moon that resides within your target, despite all the knowledge you claimed to have collected on him..." The titanous god swings, releasing a golden sword beam that repels the monster. "No matter. It is by our will that you die."

_End Chapter..._

Kenshin: And so that ends this chapter.

Yusei: Nice job with the fight scenes TCM!

Manabu: We're nearing the final chapter, as well as the epilogue and alternate ending. Next chapter, we reveal Link and Kishin and their agreement within the five minutes inside that building. We'll also show how the Master Sword evolved into its new golden form, and the epic conclusion to the fight.

Tenji: Don't forget to check back on certain chapters to see which ones we've redone. They're listed in the summary.

Yusei: Who are you?

Tenji: I'm the Quasar Sky King Grandea! I fight the alien insects that invade other planets and the 13 horoscopes that plan to erase all of existence.


	42. Catastrophe Part 4

_Chapter 42: Catastrophe Part 4  
_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, Spawn, or Metroid. I hate doing this, but I have to. I'm beginning to feel no one reads my stories either, so this is just kicking me when I feel down.

Kenshin: We're quickly reaching the finale.

Manabu: Do all our long chapter stories tend to end in the early 40s?

Yusei: Probably.

Last Time on ALF...

_Link, Siegfried and Cassandra battle against Abyss, Kilik, and Sophitia. While Kilik is possessed by the Astral Chaos, Sophitia shows she's conscious and forced to do this to protect her daughter. Cassandra and Siegfried disable the unwilling fighters while Link suffers heavy damage. Their battle leads him to the cathedral, where Link is replaced in battle by the Fierce Deity inside of him._

The Hylian escapes towards the outskirts of the city. 'How can I get to him now? I left all my items back at the cliff.'

Link feels his senses go off, and notes the cathedral is close by. "I can't believe I ended up back at the cathedral. This place is nothing but bad memories."

"It's interesting that you bring that place up," says the abyssal monster as he approaches Link from the skies. "This world, the underworld that lies on the other side of the well, your world, and Termina...there's a gap between the dimensions that connects these worlds together, and they all revolve around the realm that cathedral leads to. The hole that opens to that gap is much less stable within the Ottoman Empire, making it easier to open a gateway to and through."

"What are you talking about?" Link asks in a questioning voice.

Abyss slashes the air, and from it opens a rainbow dimension, one Link knows far too well. The rainbow soon turns dark blue. "It's the Astral Chaos, a world that exists in the gap between dimensions. But you have no need to know that."

Link prepares himself, but gets caught off guard when Abyss fires red lightning. He tries to block, but the attacks get through his defenses and fry him. Abyss then fires a ball of dark energy, which blasts Link towards the direction of the cathedral. He crashes through the grey bricks, and gets buried by falling rubble. In the process he drops the Master Sword just inches away.

...

"Link..."

"Link..."

"...Wake up!"

"Gah!" Link opens his eyes. He finds himself in a dark blue place, underneath the glow of a moon. "What's going on?"

"Link..." A figure from behind Link approaches him. This person is the Fierce Deity. "It's time we have ourselves a little talk."

"You!" Link reaches for the Master Sword, only to find nothing.

"Your Blade of Evil's Bane is out of reach. It's only us now..." The god takes a seat in a chair fashioned by energy. "Calm yourself. I'm here to talk to you."

"Now you want to talk? Where was this before when you took over my body?" Link shouts angrily at him.

The god sighs. "We can go back and forth about this in the few minutes it's taking that monster to come over and kill us, or we can just mull over that and agree to work together."

"How can I work together with you? You tried to kill those people in Termina! Not to mention you took over my body several times and you kept making me go out of control!" Link shouts at him. "You also tried to kill everyone in Hyrule!"

The Fierce Deity chuckles a bit before laughing, saying once he ends, "Technically I was after Terminians. I wanted to kill them because they cursed us gods. They were a land doomed to be destroyed. ...Besides, the only time I went on a rampage of destruction was in Termina. I guess when Hylia sent you to Termina she must have forgiven them."

"Who? Nobody sent me. I ended up there by accident."

The god stands up and approaches Link slowly, who backs away a bit. "Let's think over your words a bit...Link, after everything that's happened in your memories, do you really think anything has been a coincidence? The reason you can't control yourself is because you have a heart of pure light; that same light is why you can use the Master Sword, the sword that repels evil, why your darker self is born, why you come back every time Hyrule is in danger. Because you have a heart of light your body literally doesn't know how to cope with my darkness, so it forces you to lash out whenever your adrenaline rises."

"...Really?" Link thinks over the possibilities of his words being true. It's correct that he's a lot more positive than most people he knows, especially before Zelda's death. He also knows that he must have a special kind of heart to hold the Master Sword. Could his affinity for light be so easily corrupted by this deity's darkness? He then realizes something he said. "Wait, you said this light heart of mine is the cause of Dark Link's revivals?"

"Exactly. Dark Link's revival doesn't stem solely from Ganondorf's attempts to replicate the Triforce, but the rituals themselves having a reversed effect that turned him into pure darkness. This ritual also connects you two and draws you together, like magnetism..." The god's explanation sticks to Link, being able to understand better now.

"...Okay, so what can we do?" Link finally asks. "If what you say is true then it's impossible for us to work together."

"Not true. The Triforce and the Master Sword rejects evil and foreign darkness, but when you fought against Inferno you temporarily accepted the darkness of Soul Edge's energy. But you couldn't contain Soul Edge's corruption and it almost took over. It's also sped up the berserk process."

The Fierce Deity reaches his hand out to Link. "You can only get past this berserk state if you accept me fully, leave no doubt in your heart. I promise you I will not harm your friends."

Link raises his hand, but stops. "But, Pyrrha's still under Soul Edge's control, right?"

"Yes, what Abyss said is true. If she can receive a shard then she may live, but all of our shards have been taken. All that's left is back at that castle, or inside of her mother."

"Her...mother? Sophitia?"

"Of course, the shard of the Dvapara Yuga can seal it back inside of her, in the same vein that it seals away Soulcalibur's true nature."

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Link looks into the god's eyes.

"Because I've read your memories shortly after being released back at the Hero King's tower." The Fierce Deity gives a sigh. "At first I thought about saving your life due to self preservation, but now I realize how much you've suffered... So, I'll help you. All you have to do is accept me?"

"Okay, but what's your name?" Link asks.

"...If you survive, I'll tell you." The Fierce Deity, with his hand still out, awaits Link's response.

Link nods and reaches his hand out, taking the masked titan's. Light and darkness pour from Link and his partner respectively. "I'll pour all of your power into the Master Sword and take over your body until your consciousness reawakens. When that happens the sword will take a new form composed of your powers and the sages."

Abyss cackles evilly, making a funny little dance when Link fails to come out for five minutes. "Yes! I have finally defeated him! But...I should cut his heart out just to make sure." Abyss approaches the cathedral cautiously, just as the clock bell rings. He approaches the hole Link made, and gets kicked a few feet away. The skeletal monster picks himself up just in time to see who attacked him.

Out from the hole steps a towering silver haired version of Link. He has a white mask over his face and his normal blue eyes instead of clear white orbs. In his left hand is the Master Sword, or what looks to be a golden wing guard version.

"I was hoping I'd get to meet up with the man who led me to this body," says the voice of the Fierce Deity inside of Link. The voice is so deep and threatening compared to Link's almost as if he was an older version. "I also must thank you; for if not for you, Link wouldn't have been so desperate to make our body-sharing relationship more beneficial for the both of us."

"What?" Abyss stabs his scythe into the ground and approaches Link. "Just who are you?"

"So you had no clue at all, the powerful deity of the moon that resides within your target, despite all the knowledge you claimed to have collected on him..." The titanous god swings, releasing a golden sword beam that repels the monster. "No matter. It is by our will that you die."

Abyss crashes into the ground. His eye glances up at the masked titan approaching him. This massive man who stands as tall as him walks towards the skeleton monster.

Grabbing his scythe they engage in battle.

Back With Cassandra...

Cassandra keels over and hits the dirt, her stab wound starting to take over. Unable to stop the bleeding with her hands she tears off her skirt and wraps it around her most serious wound. After that she turns her attention to Siegfried, who begins to wake up.

"Siegfried!" Cassandra helps the injured knight up.

"What did I miss?" he asks while rubbing his head.

"Link and Abyss left. I can sense him close by," Cassandra says, pointing in the direction he went for. "Can you make sure the others are okay? I have to make sure Link is safe."

Siegfried smiles as he looks at her. "It must be nice, having someone love you that much..."

Cassandra flushes red for a moment. "...Yes..."

"Then go get him." Siegfried hands Cassandra Link's bag of items. Without a second thought Cassandra takes it and heads for the battle going on. Siegfried manages to pick himself up and climb to where Sophitia, Kilik and Pyrrha are. "I miss having those feelings, for Sophitia..."

Cassandra dashes as fast, and safe, as she could towards the battlefield. The swordswoman goes by the town they passed through, and finds it strangely deserted. 'No doubt they've been through here.'

She eventually comes near the cathedral, and ducks in time to avoid a sword beam coming her way. Standing up she gasps when she sees Abyss being tossed into a tree, uprooting it in the process. She also sees Link as the Fierce Deity, and that surprises her even more; this is the first time she's seen Link as such a being. Just looking at him has taken most of her breath away.

"L-Link?" The Fierce Deity turns back to Cassandra, causing her to back away in fear. "Link, please be okay. You recognize me, right?"

He comes before the smaller woman and reaches out for her. She flinches in fear, but calms down with wide eyes feeling his softness. Cassandra looks into the titan's eyes, and notes that they've turned blue. "Cassandra, it's okay. I'm safe, thanks to our agreement."

A sense of calmness sweeps her heart. "Link!"

"I think I understand now." Abyss comes towards Link with a swing of his scythe.

The Fierce Deity takes over again and with his sword blocks the attack. "Understand what?"

"You possess an aura about you that resembles the sun god Majora." Abyss backs away and cackles. "You are the moon god that remains in conflict with the sun, the Terminian version of that Hylian, the claimed Fierce Deity."

He smirks at the title, before asking, "And what of it?"

"I was wondering how he managed to survive Majora's power...it was all you..." Abyss summons a ball of darkness. "I don't know how you came into his body, but I will not allow you to get in my way either. You will die along with your nuisance of a host; without you he would have been dead a long time ago."

The god raises his sword and throws it at Abyss. He uses his scythe to divert its path, but gets blindsided by his opponent who kicks him in the face and stomps him into the ground. He drops his ball of darkness, which fades into nothing. The god raises his fists, but the skeleton demon releases a wave of blue energy that repels. The god lands by the Master Sword. "Death comes to us all, but something much worse awaits us; when he dies he will come back. The Hero of Time has been blessed with the power to traverse through time whenever he is needed the most."

"What?" questions the abyss as he charges at Link. "Nonsense. Are you saying he comes back to life as well, just like me?"

"That's not for me to disclose to you." The deity grabs his sword and charges at Abyss. Abyss summons a lightning storm to travel for him. He rolls out of the way and jumps behind Abyss. The demon summons a ball of darkness again. "I can easily avoid this."

"Of course you can," he says, charging it up anyway.

The fierce deity prepares to dodge, but stops when he remembers Cassandra is behind him. 'Damn!' As Abyss fires Link raises his sacred blade and blocks the attack. Cassandra backs away realizing he's doing this to protect her.

The ball of energy explodes, and a black void opens up around him. "Link!"

Abyss laughs. "Prepare for a trip to another world! That way you'll stop bothering me!"

Six colorful lights pierce out from the dark void. They're colored yellow, green, red, blue, orange and purple and spiral around the void before slicing it apart. The void explodes, revealing the Fierce Deity standing in one piece, and the lights return to the blade in the form of the symbols on it. Unfortunately he's suffered serious damage from the void itself.

Looking down Link's wounds that he forced close have reopened and starting bleeding. 'I can't waste energy closing them up again at the moment. I'll have to finish this off.'

"This is absurd! I should have broken you like a twig by now!" Abyss grumbles angrily. "Very well. I shall destroy you with my most powerful spell!"

Abyss holds up his hand, and a ball of pure blackness appears before him. The wind blows ferociously, the sky turns black, and all the shadows around them draw towards the orb. Link's eyes widen in surprise. "This spell..."

"That's right! This is the Pitch Black Paradise spell that rips apart a target's body and reduces them to mere atoms! There's nothing you can do to protect yourself and that woman from death!" Small white lights similar to stars appear in the black sphere.

The Fierce Deity grabs hold of his head in pain. "Link, what's wrong?"

"Link's consciousness is starting to return." The marking of the Triforce of Courage shines on his left arm, and his body begins to revert back to Link's normal size. 'I can still perform one last attack.'

The god raises his sword in the air, and the six extra markings of the sword raise up from the blade and transform into the lights from before. The lights travel over the blade in a square formation. The blade gives off a shimmering glow as well.

"Altairis!" Abyss tosses his spell at them.

"Moonlight Rave." He slashes at the ball that resembles space. A golden light releases upon swing accompanied by the six lights that slashes the sphere in half. But a huge explosion of black energy releases, capturing the deity inside.

"Link!" Cassandra calls out, before screaming when the wind from the explosion blows her away. She hits a tree, and her wound begins bleeding again.

Abyss cackles before he releases a sword beam at the blackness. Out from the dark rises Link in his green, torn apart tunic and Master Sword in its regular form, ultimate form. He yells as he comes down upon Abyss and slashes down at the monster. Abyss blocks just in time, but is unable to block when he performs a spin attack. This attack destroys his precious scythe Irkalla, and leaves the black hole that is his stomach exposed. Link then stops and performs his Illusion Stab assault, each attack piercing into the monster's body.

"Aaaah seiya!" Yelling, Link makes a downward slash at Abyss, cleaving him in two. The attack also slices the black hole apart, leaving Link free.

Abyss stumbles backwards painfully. The energies of Soul Edge and Soulcalibur leak from his wounds. "Why? Why can't I kill you? I stole your friends, I empowered myself, I even used the ultimate spell of darkness against you! Why do you always win?"

Link takes a moment to blink, turning his eyes towards the skeletal monster. Instead of answering him he stabs his blade into the demon's golden eye, and accompanied with a painful scream light pours from it. "Heroes always win in the end."

Link yells as he pushes the blade farther into his skull, having it come out the other end. Abyss' body gains hundreds of cracks all over, each bleeding energy. With a single laugh, Abyss says, "It's time I sleep for eternity," before he screams in pain and explodes. The energy from the two spirit swords release into the skies, purifying the skies and opening the Astral Chaos.

From where Siegfried and the other members of their group are and just near Link, the spirit swords' energy collects within the Astral Chaos. The gateway releases a vacuum that draws in Abyss' ashes, Link and Cassandra.

"What's going on?" Cassandra reaches out to grab onto Link, but that fails when they end up crashing within the world of the Astral Chaos. Link tries to pick himself back up, but with all the injuries and attacks he's suffered and used, he's too tired to move. In the end he collapses face forward onto the ground. "LINK!"

Cassandra crawls over to Link, her own injury still killing her. She turns Link over, and after kneeling down before him and checking his pulse notes he's stopped breathing. "Oh no! Link!"

She begins performing CPR on him. "1, 2, 3! Come on!" She breathes into his mouth, but to no avail. Tears begin to fall from her eyes. "Link! Please, don't die! You've done so much, saved so many people, changed so many lives, and gave me so much to live for. Please, I'm begging you!"

Link groans something in her mouth. "Link? What is it? Are you okay? Speak to me!"

"So much...pain..." he mutters.

"No, it's okay! I'll treat your wounds right away! Please, don't leave me!"

"My testicles...hurt..." he complains. Cassandra looks down at where she's kneeling, and blushes when she realizes her knee is on his crotch.

"Oh, sorry!" She stands beside him now, and Link breathes a sigh of relief. More tears fall from her eyes. "But you're alive! You're okay!"

"Sort of...I feel like I'm dying..." Link complains. "Cassandra, thanks for being there for me."

"Don't talk like that! You can live through this!" she says to him.

"Cassandra, I know I said I would live with you, but am I really worth it? You've seen my other half, not to mention that as long as I'm alive I really am cursed to fighting all my life. Plus, I don't think I can stay in your world."

"What?"

"Now that I know that Hyrule is safe, I can go there and live my life. I don't truly feel comfortable living in this world, and that's where I feel conflicted."

"Conflicted?" Cassandra then comes to an understanding. "I see. You don't want to bring me to a world where I'll be misunderstood, because that would be just as unfair."

"I just don't know what to do..." Cassandra sits Link up and hugs him.

"It's okay. I'll live with you."

"Eh?"

"I don't mind living with you in your world; me and Amy will go with you."

"But, what about your family? What about Sophitia, Rothion, your brother and your niece and nephew?"

Cassandra places a kiss on his lips, one he's missed for so long. "I don't mind doing this for you. I love you so much Link that I want what's best for you. It's not just about me...Which is why I need to tell you this secret I've been keeping from you."

"Eh?"

"Link, there was something else Zelda told me. She wanted me to keep it a secret from you, because she wanted you to remember her positively..." Cassandra is about to speak when suddenly a set of footsteps go off near them. She grabs the Master Sword and stands before Link.

"Put your weapons down." Coming out from the darkness is a man adorn in black and gold armor. "I am not here to harm you."

"Who are you?" Cassandra asks.

"Wait, that voice sounds familiar...Edge Master?" Link raises his head and sees the man raise his helmet off, revealing the old man. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you two the same question; how did you get here?" he asks them.

"When Link killed Abyss energy came out of him and opened this place, and we got sucked in along the way!" Cassandra explains.

"What is this place?" Link asks, just as confused about this world as his fiance.

Edge Master looks up at the dark blue sky, and says, "This is the world that lives in-between. A world that connects all worlds together; the Astral Chaos."

"The Astral Chaos?" The couple say this in unison. Link takes a moment to think about it, noting the old man mentioned the world connects to other worlds. "...How come I've never heard of it before?"

"Not many people know of this place. I doubt even the royals of Hyrule do. After all, you are the first to travel between worlds..." Link tries to stand, but his injuries prevent him.

"Link, stay down; I have to treat you." Cassandra takes his bag and prepares to look into it. As she does Link looks down, and blushes seeing her white panties hung up her ass. He turns away quickly, suffering a nosebleed.

"Cassie, your underwear," he says, causing Cassie to finally note her underwear situation. She blushes and covers herself from the old man. "

"I see..." Cassandra throws an arrow at him, who dodges, thinking he was talking about her panties. "Link, there is a way for you to return. I possess spells that allow me to travel through the astral world, but for you there's an easier way. All you need to do is play the Song of Time on the Ocarina of Time."

"The Song of Time?"

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Link asks.

"I have a friend who has been there helping you through your troubles, Kaepora," says the old man. "But that's for later. Leave the Astral World before its powers enter your body. You wouldn't be able to contain its powers if it they do."

"Uh, sure thing. Cassie?" Cassandra hands Link a blue Ocarina he had in his bag. Taking the mouthpiece to his lips he places the Song of Time. The song's powerful melody touches Cassandra's heart, catching her affections even more with how good he is. She's never heard him play this instrument, or any for that matter, before, so to hear him play this item so well is surprising for her.

At the end of the song, a portal opens up above them. The Astral Chaos closes up, and the skies have converted back to earth's. Link plops back, tired again. Cassandra immediately begins to take out a medic kit in his bag and starts treating his wounds. Edge Master then says, "Good job."

"Hey, I have a question..." Cassandra says, gathering the old man's attention. She finishes treating one wound on his chest before going for the more serious one by his stomach. "Edge Master right? Why didn't you help us before? You knew the enemy, gave us those shards to help Pyrrha's illness, and even gave us a piece of your beard for Hilde's father's cure, but you didn't fight with us. Why did you help us in those aspects but not in fighting? You're strong, right?"

Edge Master smirks in response to her words. "That is true. I did stay out of the conflict, not because I wanted to though...There was a much more serious matter at hand for me and Olcadan to deal with, a being of destruction named Angol Fear."

"Who?"

"But she made no attempt upon the earth in the time we've watched her, and by the time she left you were finished with Nightmare." Edge Master hands Link a shard of the Dvapara Yuga. "Here. Give that to Kilik. By now Abyss' powers will have worn off of him and he can restore your friends."

"Thanks," Link says to him. Edge Master chants a short spell, and uses it to disappear.

Elsewhere...

"Stupid horse! Move faster!" Mitsurugi shouts as he travels towards Athens blindly.

_End Chapter..._

Kenshin: This chapter is over!

Yusei: In the end Link and the Fierce Deity team up to defeat Abyss, leaving a happy ending for everyone.

Manabu: The next chapter will probably be the final chapter. Cassandra tells Link of what Zelda told her before she died, and makes her decision of where to stay. Afterwards we'll go to a special chapter about anti hero Spawn and Tira. Also, an alternative ending featuring what almost happens to Link and Cassandra.


	43. Episode of Spawn

******A Love Forged By Blades and Souls**

Kenshin: I do not own Soul Calibur, or Link. Nintendo and Namco do.

_**Chapter 43: Episode of Spawn**_

* * *

'Transcending history and the world; a tale of souls and swords eternally retold,' is the theme behind this story. Never before in the history of this world has a story been told as amazing as this. A sword that houses the spirit of a demon called Soul Edge has been discovered by the world and everyone who's heard of this sword of destruction becomes sought out by millions. One such person claims it and unearths the spirit inside, but becomes possessed and turned into the immortal pirate.

This pirate traveled the seas providing souls for the blade, until his tirade ended by the blade of a Greek warrior and a crimson ninja. After said battle a lone knight seeking his father's murderer takes hold of the sword, unwillingly becoming the Azure Knight Nightmare. This monster has gone about carving destruction and mayhem across the world as the now criminal group Schwartzwind. Luckily a group of warriors banded together to stop this group, composed of a monk bo master, a swordswoman, and a pirate. After Nightmare's defeat a portal to another world opened up, the world that exists as the in-between dimensional realm known as the Astral Chaos. The power existing in this realm awakened the demon spirit called Inferno and the sword of salvation meant to combat it, Soulcalibur.

With a stab the holy vorpal blade seals away a majority of the demon sword's power and for a while the world has gone peaceful. That's when one day Nightmare awakens, having reclaimed his original human conscious. But what only those who were apart of this story would remember is that there have been other forces who have become a part of this eternal story, all of whom traveled through the Astral Chaos: a malfested human who has become a monster, a denizen from hell who managed to pass through time, and an elven hero whose name would forever reverberate in time's passage.

But this is not that guy's story. This is the story of the formerly mentioned denizen of hell; a man who gave his life to see the woman he loved again, a man who would eventually fight against those who rule hell purely for revenge, and a man who has proven to be one of the strongest contenders for the demon sword's future. This man is Spawn.

* * *

Spawn opens his eyes. Looking around the denizen of hell notes he's in the middle of a cemetery; it's also raining, pouring down like it's cats and dogs. The man comes to the edge of the boneyard where he sees people.

The humans back away in fear seeing the costumed anti-hero with his green, glowing eyes. "What year is it?"

After receiving his answer he wanders the streets of the 16th century village. For a while this goes on, until he remembers his mission. 'That's right...Find Soul Edge for that bastard.'

And so this begins Spawn's quest; he heads for the nearest town in search of Soul Edge, and finds it in the form of a shard. After fighting and killing a possessed man for it, he takes hold of it and mutters, "So, this is Soul Edge...Looks like something he would want."

That's when he feels a powerful force trying to overtake him. "What do you take me for?" he shouts before using his powers to destroy the shard.

The shard's remains flash with evil energy, before giving Spawn a vision. In this vision he comes before a vile demon. "Malebolgia."

"Spawn, what have you done? You destroyed a precious fragment of the Soul Edge!" speaks the evil monster.

"You never said that it would try to possess me. Just what am I after?" Malebolgia roars in response to his question.

"Do you question me?" the demon asks him.

"What kind of fool goes on a mission without wanting to know the proper details?"

"ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS SHUT UP AND DO AS I COMMAND!" bellows the demon.

Spawn stares into his eyes, before he closes his own. He reopens them, and the vision ends. "Just 'shut up' and blindly follow me, huh? ...I know exactly what to do then."

Nine Months Later...

"Beat it. I have to get my face sewn again." Spawn sends his chains forward towards Raphael, who slides through them to avoid getting caught. Tira stands before Spawn to fight with him.

Zasalamel comes in and kicks Tira aside; but as he does he doesn't notice her hand slipping into his pockets. She slides until hitting a tombstone, falling unconscious. Ignoring her for the moment Spawn blocks Raphael's rapier with his spiked glove. He then disappears in a poof of smoke, reappearing above Tira.

"Gotcha!" Zasalamel summons a ball of darkness, before tossing it towards the Hellspawn.

"Goodbye, phantom." The darkness captures Spawn and Tira, before vanishing along with them.

The black portal opens up, revealing Spawn with Tira under him. He also notes that he's now in a desolate area. 'Where is this?'

Spawn looks down at Tira and kicks her in the side. Although it's light it's enough to wake her up. "Wha...Master?"

"I'm not your master, and it seems we're stuck somewhere," he tells the woman, his eyes looking at her body. He notes that the wounds he made on her haven't healed yet, and sighs. The Hellspawn places his hands on her stomach and releases a green aura inside of her.

This aura seeps into her wounds and heals them, surprising the grateful woman. Spawn then walks forward, leaving her behind in this abandoned area. Tira soon picks herself up and chases him. "Master, wait up!"

A while goes by as they travel, until they eventually reach a coliseum up top a cliff. They enter in without trouble. "Where is this?"

"Huh. You know this kinda reminds me of Greece," says the white haired assassin.

"Greece?" Suddenly, Spawn dodges to the left, avoiding a blade coming down at him. He manages to push Tira out of the way as well. Looking behind him he sees a guy standing up top a pillar. "Who are you?"

"And just what manner of creature are you?" the bald man speaks.  
He leaps down close by, where both Tira and Spawn gain a better look of him. He's middle aged with pale white skin, a red splash going up his left chest and side of his face, wearing spartan armor and wielding twin blades on his back. He also has a scar by his right eye. "Are you another monster sent by the Olympians?"

"I'm not in the mood to answer your questions," is Spawn's only response before he walks closer to him. "But you will answer mine."

"Do not contend with me; I am Kratos, the God of War!" he bellows before making his attack. Spawn takes out his gun and fires an energy blast, but Kratos manages to avoid the attack. Kratos throws a flurry of swings using his chain swords, each strike being blocked by Spawn's chains.

Spawn disappears in a burst of green smoke and comes up behind him. Kratos turns around in time to slash at him, but he counters with his spiked fist. "God of War, huh? Sounds like a shit video game."

"A what?" Kratos forces his strength into pushing the Hellspawn back. Unfortunately he would have a hard time doing so, as his physical prowess is just as enhanced as his own. His chains wrap around Kratos' neck and lift him high in the air.

The spartan breaks out and lands on the hell denizen. Spawn disappears again, only come out in the air and shoot a green ball of energy at him that explodes. Kratos gets sent backwards, but tosses his chain sword to hook onto Spawn's ribs. Necroplasm oozes out his wound as Kratos drags him down. He then summons a large blue sword of energy and slashes at the Hellspawn. Spawn disappears again, narrowly escaping death.

Spawn reappears behind him, and ducks underneath a sudden slash. Kratos slashes down at Spawn, but he blocks by using his spiked left arm on his sword wrist. 'There's something up about that sword...It reminds me of that Link's weapon.'

Spawn comes in and throws an uppercut. This attack knocks the spartan upward in the air. Kratos flips in the air to land properly, but Spawn comes flying in and throws another punch square in his face. Midair Spawn draws his gun and fires an energy bullet at him.

Kratos retrieves his blue weapon for his chain blades, which emit fire. He then swings them at Spawn, who lands just in time to avoid their flames. Spawn reaches his hand out, and causes the flames to spread over onto Kratos' body, burning him. The spartan quickly puts himself out, but gets pushed further into the ground by his left foot.

"I hate to break it to you, but you're fighting a losing battle. I can absorb the evil and sin of others to become stronger, and from the amount I'm drawing I can tell you're probably wearing sin all over you." His words cause Kratos to cringe in anger, even more than he already is.

This anger grants him new strength, allowing Kratos to lift Spawn and toss him in the air. He then hooks him and reels him in to kick him away. Spawn disappears again, and comes up behind him with his gun pointed behind his head. "Alright, this should calm your ass."

"What kinda puny weapon is that?"

"Now, where am I?"

"You should know where you are; Greece."

"Don't lie. This is nothing like Greece."

"I got it!" Tira says, grasping their attention. "Zasalamel must have sent us to another world. He does that allot."

"What? If you knew why didn't you say anything?" Spawn then aims his gun at her. This allows Kratos to spin around and grapple Spawn, tossing him to the ground.

"Those things are a total distraction." Tira points to the left, where a bunch of dead spartan soldiers are. "Or were."

Spawn levitates in the air, taking Kratos with him. He then drops the man, who hooks onto his legs to drag him down. Spawn uses this to his advantage and floats higher and higher in the air.

"GO MASTER!" Tira cheers.

Spawn uses his Necro Cannon to attack the blades, forcing Kratos to fall downward. He descends, going past the cliff where they were fighting at, and continues to drop. Spawn lands before Tira and says, "Let's find a way back now."

Spawn suddenly turns back, to see the bald spartan flying back to him with grey wings. The wings retract inside his body as he lands. "You're dead."

"Piss off shithead." Spawn aims his gun at Kratos.

Before the battle could continue the growl of an animal goes off just nearby. Coming down the outside halls towards them is a monstrous beast. Tira comments, "A manticore?"

"With a lion's head...That's rare," says the spartan. He summons his blue sword and charges at Spawn.

The Hellspawn however is drawn to the monster before him. 'Soul Edge?' Spawn fires a Necro Cannon at the beast, but it flies in the skies. It lands behind Tira and attacks her, but she stops the claws with her ring blade. Spawn releases chains and wrap around the beast's head.

Kratos lunges on the beast, stabbing his blades into the sides of its head. He then grabs its wings and rips them off with brute strength. Tira takes that time to slice the monster's head off, causing it to collapse and bleed dead. Kratos retrieves his blades while Spawn uses his chains to dig into the manticore's body and fish out a red shard.

"How did a Soul Edge shard get in this thing? And this world anyway..." The shard glows brightly in Spawn's hands.

"Master!" Tira leaps at Spawn, and soon the two of them are engulfed in a bright life. Kratos swings his blue sword at them, but they're gone by the time he would have connected.

The shard brings them to a world composed of rainbow light. The light transforms the entire area around them into a dark blue world, the Astral Chaos. Tira looks around in bewilderment. "What is this place?"

"The Astral Chaos..." Spawn speaks before crushing the shard in his hands to dust.

"Master!"

"I'm not your master," replies the Hellspawn. "And I have no interest in keeping the shards. These things will only try to possess me, as well as aggravate my mission."

"So, all this time you've been hunting for these shards and destroying them?"

"Exactly." Spawn tells her, glaring at the area he's stuck in. "This world...Where was the exit..."

"You've been here before?" Ignoring her Spawn comes before a weird rock formation with a glowing blue eye in it. It flashes before them, and suddenly they end up back in the real world. "We're back?"

"Works for me." Spawn looks around, noticing they're in a forest. "I'm leaving to find the rest of the shards. If you value your life get lost."

With that he takes off; Tira almost loyally follows him without heeding his warning. The Hellspawn turns back and sighs when he sees her still behind him. He soon comes to a mountainous region, where he could feel evil energy leaking. With cat like silence he approaches the battlefield, seeing Raphael watching an all out war between Link and his team against Zasalamel's monsters.

"Guess we are back, from whatever hellhole that was." Spawn approaches Raphael, prepared to give him his just desserts.

The Next Day...

After interfering with Raphael's plans he and Tira head for the Grandall Empire in search of more shards. That's where they meet Girardot and his army prepared to take on Strife.

'Must I fight these idiots seriously?' Spawn holds his hand out to Tira, indicating her to stay back. He then rushes into battle, prepared to take on all three of them at once.

Miser and Greed slash at him from both ends, but Spawn blocks with his gauntlets and sends them flying using his chains. He then uses his cape to wrap around the two after flying at them and sneak inside their bodies to steal the shards. After landing Spawn takes the shards in hand and crushes them.

"You bastard!" Girardot shouts angrily at the phantom.

"I want to ask something...What is it you're planning?" asks the Hellspawn.

"To kill Strife Astlar. He's a tyrant and a monster bringing this kingdom nothing but turmoil!" says the towering old man.

"Does he possess shards of Soul Edge?"

"Of course he does; those things are only a small portion of what makes him a monster!" Girardot grumbles.

Spawn grabs Girardot by his armor and lifts him up. He takes off his mask with his other hand, revealing his grotesque, skinless face. The old man pales in shock seeing him, along with the others. Tira however gushes. "Take me to this Strife."

Not wasting time the old man guides Spawn and Tira to Strife's castle. The green and black phantom enter in through the front gate, wearing his mask. Two guards stand before him. "Halt! Present indentification!"

"Yeah, fuck you." Spawn strikes them in the skulls with chains. They each collapse to the ground. With them out of the way he enters the castle, where he easily feels Soul Edge. Upon entering more guards come after him. "I don't have time for this," are his words as he watches them assemble rifles.

"Ready? Fire!" The guns shoot at Spawn, who vanishes; really he's invisible. "Where'd he go?!"

Spawn turns visible again and grabs one of their guns, before beating them unconscious with it. He then looks at the model. "Wow, these are older than my china. Still, I could work with this."

More guards come down at him. "All of you get back! I'm here for Strife!"

"What do you want with our master?!" The guards attack him.

Upstairs, a man with blond hair stands up from his seat. Adorning armor and a crimson cape he grabs a giant sword and heads downstairs. "Someone's intruding in my castle..."

"You're not worth fighting master," says a gloomy voice. He looks behind him and sees Tira standing in the window. Ravens flock behind her.

"You!"

Downstairs Spawn has just about finished taking care of the soldiers. "Next is upstairs."

Spawn casually makes his way upstairs, all the time in the world in his hands. The phantom stops when he sees someone coming down. This man in white wielding a dagger sized ax twirls his weapon in the air and stares at the Hellspawn. His boots click once they hit the ground floor. "Phantom, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I want to take Strife's shards of Soul Edge. Who are you?" asks Spawn.

"I am the emperor's advisor Chester. You'll have to deal with me for now!" He dashes towards Spawn.

Our antihero summons spikes from his left arm, using them to block his weapon. He then pushes him back and tosses a ball of explosive energy. Chester rolls along the ground and avoids the attack. In the midst of the explosion he leaps in the air and stabs down at Spawn's head.

Chains shoot out and grab Chester, lifting him up before he could pierce his skull. "Now, I'm not playing any games. Where is he?"

"Master!" Tira comes running up to Spawn, holding a shard of Soul Edge in her hands. "I got it!"

"Hey! No one asked for your help!" shouts the Hellspawn.

"Give that back!" Strife comes chasing after Tira, a blade wound taking over his left eye.

Spawn tosses Chester at him, who cuts him through mercilessly. Spawn then fires a ball of energy at the emperor, and he responds by slashing at it. Unfortunately his sword explodes upon impact.

Tira stops before Spawn, handing him the shard. "Here you go."

"Why do you obsessively call me master?" asks the denizen of hell. Neither of them pay attention to Strife drawing a knife.

"Because you're like a kindred spirit to me, someone I feel I can connect with," she replies, smiling in her jolly state of mind. A chain shoots out and jabs Strife in the face, breaking his nose and causing blood to pour down from his face.

"You can do so much better." Spawn turns his attention to Strife, who grovels on the floor in pain.

"You bastards! Don't you know who I am?! I am the king! I will-" Spawn jumps on his head, allowing his weight to squish his skull and brains completely.

"Let's go." Spawn destroys the shard and heads out the castle.

Outside Girardot and his men have waited outside patiently. "You...won?"

"Go inside and see for yourself," says the Hellspawn. Miser and Greed go on ahead.

"Wow, I don't know what to say..." The old man is too shocked to come up with a proper thank you.

"Don't. All I want from you is to come with me to find someone," replies Spawn. His eyes glance up into the skies. "And bring as many men as you can find; We're going to take on Soul Edge directly now."

"Y-Yes!" Girardot goes off to gather more troops.

"This very well may be a battle I'll need you in," Spawn says to Tira just as she comes to join them.

"As you wish, master!" Tira says with a nod and a bow. Behind her, she clenches her ring blade and a familiar box.

Later...

Spawn and Tira leave Athens, the latter following the former once again. "You're really intent on being with me, huh?"

"I have no one else to be with. With Inferno gone you're like a kindred spirit," she says with a smile.

"You can find better." He states, and almost immediately Tira becomes depressed. It's as if she changed personality.

"There's no one...It's pointless."

Spawn groans and walks towards the cathedral. "From now on, you decide on what you want for yourself. I'm gonna wait forever there, until the day I return to my time."

And so Spawn enters the gateway, using an explosion to blow up the exit behind him. With his return sealed away, Spawn wanders the dark halls of the Astral Chaos for as long as he would have to. With an unaging body he wouldn't have to worry about death. All he would have to do is sleep, and wait until the day comes where he eventually meets the demon that took him away from his time.

Time passes after Spawn heads into the Astral world. Tira lies in the middle of an open field, feeding her pet raven seeds from her hand. "What to do...Master is gone...Soul Edge is gone...I could go after her but that wouldn't work too well unless-"

She pauses when she feels darkness gathering nearby. By the hill shards of darkness collect into a single point; the darkness rises up and takes the form of a humanoid. The black being opens his red eyes, and gasps in air.

"I'm...I'm alive! YES!" The man cheers and laughs evilly. "Once again, thanks to Soul Edge, I cheat death!"

Tira stands up and slowly approaches him. "Now to plot my revenge. How to get rid of him this time..."

"YAY!" Tira launches herself onto Dark Link, who crashes to the ground. Tira hugs the dark version of the Hero of Time. "I've found a new master!"

"Wha-get off me!" Dark Link growls as he tries to push her off. "Wait, aren't you Inferno's slave?"

"You're my new master!" she says as she hugs him.

"Get the hell off of me you crazy bitch!" DL slugs Tira in the face, sending her flying off of him. Tira manages to pick herself up and stares at him, coldly.

"You're going to be my new master..." Tira grabs him and shoves her face into his. "AND YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT!"

"...yes ma'am..." After taking some time to cool down, the two walk towards the nearest town. Along the way Tira tells him of what has transpired since his 'death'. "Huh...So both weapons are gone...That makes things harder."

"Not true. There's a chance we can revive Soul Edge. The shards still retain some power and if we brought them together-"

"I see..." DL reaches out and summons his sword. "I'll lure Link here, take him off guard, injure him so much he'll be unable to stop us, and in the meantime we restore Soul Edge to full strength. But we're gonna need a host to distract any attention we may draw.

"...That girl will do nicely." DL continues heading for the nearest town, despite Athens being nowhere in that direction. "It'll take some time though, and proper preparation...But until we put this plan into action we stay in the shadows and let others play around a bit."

"So can you use this?" Tira hands DL a box; she opens it to reveal small shards of Soul Edge.

"You still have some?"

"Spawn wanted to destroy the shards of Soul Edge, but I was able to hide some of these in here after Zasalamel stole these from your copy," says the birdlike assassin. DL takes the box with a smile. "So, what's the plan?"

"You just leave that to me, k?" DL turns back to Tira with a deadly grin. She however squeals and hugs him. "Let go!"

"Let's get to work...what's your name again?" Tira asks.

"...I don't have a name," retorts Dark Link after he shrugs her off. "Link calls me Dark Link, but that's not it either. I've thought kniL, but that's cliche. You can call me whatever you want."

"Okay then." Tira cups her chin as she thinks. "Hm...how about Killer Negative Imitation of Link?"

"...Do whatever you want..." Dark Link says before walking off. 'Having Killer in my name would sound cool though.'

"Okay, Mr. K!" With that, Tira skips happily after Dark Link. She's confident this relationship will be more refined with a kindred spirit like him.

* * *

Kenshin: That ends this chapter.

Yusei: The next one will be the last, involving what happened after Link and Cassandra meet Edge Master.


	44. The Promise

_**A Love Forged By Blades and Souls Chapter 44: The Promise**  
_

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Zelda, Spawn, or Metroid.

Yusei: We're almost done. This is the last real chapter!

* * *

Siegfried lays his friends together, all three of them still unconscious. He looks back and notes Talim, Yun-Seong and Seong Mina coming their way. The young wind priestess is seen carrying them on her shoulders, trying as hard as she could to keep them up. Siegfried comes to her and helps Yun-Seong, being the heaviest.

"Thank you. Where are the others?" she asks, looking around for who else could be around.

"Link and Cassandra are fighting with Abyss right now." Siegfried says, looking out into the direction where he saw the Astral Chaos open. 'Was that what I think it was?'

"Good. They should be finished by now," Taki says as she carries a still unconscious Maxi towards the group. "Link tends to fight better for himself and others whenever someone else is at risk."

"Agreed. He's better off not fighting recklessly," Siegfried says in agreement.

Kilik makes a low groan. Those awake turn to the bo user, who opens his eyes groggily. "What...happened..."

"Kilik, are you okay?" Taki asks him.

"I don't know...what have I been doing?"

"We'll explain when we get back, but we can't leave until Link and Cassandra return." Siegfried turns his attention back to where they left.

"Siegfried, Kilik, you go and see if Link and Cassandra might need help. We'll stay here," Taki tells them, still looking over Maxi's wound.

"Taki, why don't you go yourself? You're much faster than either of us." Kilik retorts.

Taki sighs before saying, "You guys are less injured than all of us; you'll get there faster."

"But-"

"Understood, let's go." Siegfried grabs hold of Kilik and heads for the town. He stops by the town and hears the sound of people yelling in anger.

"Get lost!" A townsfolk shouts.

"What's going on?" Cassandra asks him.

"We saw those monsters fighting! They destroyed our town!" Another person says.

"What are you talking about?"

"Him!" A woman points at Link, who is in Cassie's arms. "We saw how powerful he was. No human could muster that power; and those ears! He's obviously a monster!"

"Link is not a monster!" she shouts in his defense.

"Cassandra, it's okay." Link pats Cassandra's back, signalling her to calm down. "Let's just go. We've done enough here."

The crowd roars at them angrily, spouting hateful things at Link. Siegfried watches, feeling sad towards how he's being treated. The couple comes before the knight, who takes Link and helps him back to the group.

One Trip And Explanation Later...

"So that's what happened..." Kilik says as he watches Cassandra treat Link. His eyes drift down to her panties, resulting in him getting kicked in the face by her. Holding his black eye he says, "This means I possess the powers of the Astral Chaos."

"I remember that place. I opened it when I faced Xianghua and Kilik as Nightmare..." Siegfried confesses to the group. He and the others watch as Kilik uses the shard on Pyrrha, who stops glowing red. "It also opened up when Algol was being brought to life."

"Still, everything worked out." Talim states to the group. "We defeated Abyss, and wiped out the source of Soul Edge. Not to mention we saved Pyrrha and no one ended up dying."

"She's right; we won." Link adds, glad that in the end everything worked out for the best. "We can finally move on with our lives."

"Yeah..." Kilik holds his hand up, and feels a dark power trembling inside of him. 'It might not be that simple for me though.'

Sophitia twitches a bit in her sleep. She soon wakes up, a little groggy in the head from that last blow Cassandra gave her. "Wha-What happened?"

"Sophitia," her sister mutters.

The mother's eyes widen in shock. "Where's Abyss? What happened to Pyrrha?"

"She's fine. Kilik healed her right away," Taki says to her, pointing to the little girl still asleep.

Tears well up in her eyes as she lifts her daughter into her arms. "Pyrrha...Thank god you're safe!"

"What are you thanking god for? We did all the work!" Cassandra shouts angrily.

"Let it go. Us all making through this must be more than luck..." Link tells her.

"Ugh...What hit me..." Maxi complains as he begins to wake up.

Taki reaches out instinctively and hugs Maxi, something she never would have done normally. Everyone watches her in shock, knowing this is something completely out of character for her. Siegfried sighs, being the only one who noticed her feelings for Maxi. It's at this time that everyone else begins to wake up, which is really just Mina and Yun-Seong.

Realizing what she's doing, Taki releases the pirate and blushes out of embarrassment. Cassandra smirks, thinking, 'Payback!'

Link places a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head. She groans. Taki then says, "Let's get going. We still need to cure Hilde, Xianghua and Setsuka."

"Xianghua? She's cursed too?" Wasting no time, Kilik races for Athens.

"Let's head back already then. I gotta prepare for my move," Cassandra says before lifting Link on her shoulder.

'Move?' Sophitia and Link think questionably at the same time.

Elsewhere...

"C'mon! Hurry up! I ain't got time for this!" Mitsurugi moans as he looks down at his horse eating some oats. He looks to the ground and notes he dropped his money.

As he bends, his scabbard's butt end hits the horse in the behind. This startles the horse, and causes it to kick. Unfortunately Mitsurugi gets sent flying into a tree. 'This is why I hate horses...'

The Next Day...

Link opens his eyes to the new day. Beside him is his fiance Cassandra, who has slept beside him the hole night. Link nudges her awake, which she does, and Link smiles at her. "Morning."

"Morning." Cassandra snuggles closer to her Hylian lover.

"Cassie, about yesterday..." Cassandra shushes him with a finger to his lips.

"It's okay. I'll go live with you, in Hyrule." Her words bring a look of surprise to his face.

"Wh-Really? You're really serious about living with me in Hyrule?"

"Why so surprise?" she asks him. "Link, I told you before how much I love you. There's no way I wouldn't want to live with you. After all we've been through something like relocation isn't gonna bug me."

"But I really don't think you should give up your life here. I mean, we can visit from time to time but we're still worlds apart from Sophitia and your family."

"Like I said, it's okay." Cassandra sits herself and Link up. "Link, you've lost so much and gained so little in exchange by coming here. Don't you think it's time you get what you want? It's okay to be a little selfish now and then."

Link's eyelids lower a bit. 'I guess if she's okay with it...' "What about Amy?"

"We'll bring her with us; she's our family," says the short haired blond woman. "She'll be one of us."

Link makes a smile. "Alright then. We'll live in Hyrule." And with that they hug eachother.

Downstairs Taki enters the kitchen area and spots Maxi in the kitchen eating an apple. He notes her and turns around. "Ah, it's you."

"Maxi, I need to have a word with you," she says to him. "It's about back at Inferno's castle, and what we did..."

He makes a spit take, hurling out pieces of apple. "What about it?"

"Maxi, there's a part of me that sees you as a woman chasing pig, but I still can't help but have these feelings." She grits her teeth thinking over her feelings.

"Hey, I have feelings too ya know!" Maxi grumbles. "It's not like I flirt around with every girl I see."

"I heard about your habits from Cassandra and Link..." says the red ninja.

"Look babe, it's up to you. You either choose me or ya don't," says the pirate. He secretly grins as he awaits her response.

"Fine then...I won't." Taki walks off.

"Wait!" Maxi jumps at her, taking her left hand to keep her from moving. He then cringes at his show of weakness.

Taki turns around and smiles at him. "I won't let you go." The ninja then spins in his arms and hugs him.

Hilde approaches Siegfried, who remains looking out the window. "Siegfried, how are you?"

"I should be asking you that," says the red haired princess. "Now that you've absolved your sins, what do you plan to do?"

"Hilde, you and your words have brought an end to my mental suffering; I can't thank you enough for it, and the support you've given us," Siegfried replies. "I'll live with my friends from now on, with you."

Hilde blushes a bit hearing his pledge. 'It sounds like he wants to be with me forever...'

Talim smiles as she watches Amy speaking with Patroklos and Pyrrha. It seems she's already starting to warm up to others. The wind priestess then turns her attention to Yun-Seong, who's still arguing with Mina about not going back.

"No means no!"

"You're coming back whether I have to drag you or not!"

Sophitia walks inside of Cassandra's room, holding a plate with new bandages and alcoholic treatment. She gasps upon seeing the couple chatting together while lying on top of one another. Sophitia clears her throat, causing them to turn their attention to her.

"S-Sister! Can you give us privacy!"

"Sorry, but it's time to change Link's bandages," says the mother. She approaches Link, who lies back and reveals his frontal wounds, and begins to change his bandage with her sister's help. "Link, thank you so much for all you've done."

"It's okay; we're friends."

"Family apparently," she retorts, correcting him as she uses a knife to cut out his used bandage. "I'm so glad you and Cassandra met. She's really grown up in the time she's been around you."

"Sis, don't treat me like a child!" the younger sister shouts, a little embarrassed.

"She's kind of right," Link says to the girls. "Cassandra, you grew from a hotheaded frog at the bottom of a well into a refined warrior who fights with her head. I mean, you were able to knock out Sophitia without either of you two dying."

"Well, the strongest fighter is not always the one who wins," says the elder sister.

After Cassandra removes the bloody bandage, Sophitia goes to work replacing it with a fresh one. She also notes Link's body is already healing it faster than even a human's. "Link, about Zelda, there's something I need to tell you. She told me something back when we met at the castle, before she died. It was a secret she swore me to keep so you wouldn't lose motivation and curse your life."

Link remains silent as she speaks along with Sophitia. Cassandra then says, "She wanted to apologize for playing with your emotions."

"Huh?"

"Zelda told me she used you; she knew that your feelings for her would drive you to revenge and determination to complete her final request. She kept herself from letting you know she was alive so your desire wouldn't waver. Zelda took advantage of you-

"So?" he responds, giving a real surprise to the two. "Ever since we were kids Zelda has always been manipulative. She could neither deal with Ganondorf nor collect the sacred stones herself, so she came to me and I was naive enough not to question if what we were doing was right... Even though we learned from our mistakes, she still confided in me to fight against monsters no one else would dare to face."

"Link, I don't understand," Sophitia interjects. "How could you still find it in your heart to forgive her? I mean, she used you. How can you look past that?"

"I accept her because everyone has their dark sides, and a real friend accepts who a person is no matter what." Link states, and Cassandra gasps when she realizes that's extremely similar to what she told him before. "I decided to accept this part of me that can forgive, because my heart has no darkness to hold on its own. It would take something Ganondorf can only do to really anger me."

"Really?"

"Link, you're too nice for your own good," Cassandra tells him. She then kisses him on the left cheek. "But I love that about you."

"I love you too," he replies to her. Sophitia smiles warmfully at the feelings these two show one another. It reminds her so much of herself and Rothion, but with reversed roles.

"Cassie, when and where would you like to get married?" asks the Hylian.

"Anytime after you're better..." she says to him.

Back outside Kilik and Xianghua see Setsuka leaving by herself. This leaves them alone. Xianghua reaches out and hugs Kilik, who seems distraught. "Kilik, what's wrong?"

"...It's nothing..." Kilik looks away, his thoughts returning to what he was told about losing control of his body to Abyss. 'I can't believe I put her through that trouble...Even now I feel I can't control what's inside me...'

The couple Link and Cassandra walk downstairs to where their friends are situated, the latter helping the former. Maxi is the first to say, "Well, bout time you showed up!"

"Good to have you on your feet again, Link!" Talim says to the Hylian.

"Feeling better?" asks the crimson ninja.

"Yeah, a little," Link says before looking down at his wound. "This should be gone by tomorrow."

"Guess what? We're finally getting married!" Cassandra says happily before hugging Link. Everyone cheers happily for them, or as happily as their characters permit.

"Bout time!" Maxi shouts.

"How long have they been together?" Yun-Seung asks out of shock.

"Congradulations," says princess Hilde. Her eyes trace to Siegfried, a certain gleam in her eyes as she thinks of marriage.

"How nice! I'd like that something," Xianghua adds with a smile.

"I would like to invite all of you guys to it, when it happens," Link says to his friends. "I'll be glad to invite all of you."

"Setsuka left though," Seung Mina says to them. 'Though I'm sure it's for the best she doesn't ruin it.'

"Oh well. I hope she'll be okay; she's still intent on killing Mitsurugi," Taki adds.

"She can take care of herself." Link states. Cassandra looks to Link and smiles.

Days Later...

"You may now kiss the bride." With these words in their minds from the priest Link and Cassandra give eachother their first kiss as husband and wife.

The crowd of people that consists of family and friends, the former for Cassandra, stand up and clap for them. Maid of honor Sophitia and bridemaids Taki and Talim stand behind Cassandra with smiles on their faces while best man Maxi stares at the ninja. The two soon part from the other's mouth and together walk down the open plain that is the aile.

"Link, this is it. Our new lives finally begin together..." Cassandra says as she hugs onto his right arm tightly. Her beautiful white dress that Sophitia wore and lent to her hugs her body even better than it did the elder.

"I don't think that's how you say it, but yeah." He states before looking down at her finger. "I'm sorry for not getting a real wedding ring, but we kinda blew the budget on this service."

"It's okay. We'll be able to get a real one later." The couple is soon surrounded by their friends, who each congradulate them on their wedding. Ring bearer Amy comes up to them too, and they reach down to hug the little girl.

As the reception goes on Dark Link watches from afar, hiding in the trees and suppressing himself so as not to be detected. "Ah, how sweet; a second wedding. I knew he has a thing for aggressive blonds...I do as well..."

He then draws his sword, thinking, 'Now, how to ruin this day for him?'

As the reception goes on Link takes the Ocarina of Time and polishes it. 'Zelda, goodbye. I'm finally moving on, completely.'

"Link!" Cassandra calls as she returns to his side after being with the others celebrating. "Having fun?"

"Oh yeah. Your parents are nice; they don't even mind that I have long ears," he says to her.

"They're nicer than you think," she says before hugging him. "I'm just glad they're off that whole 'I won't be getting married ever' thing."

Link laughs hearing that, prompting Cassandra to punch him in the chest playfully. "Don't laugh! It's not funny!"

"Yes it is." She huffs from his response. "So, you ready?"

"Huh?" Cassandra then remembers that they're leaving. "Oh yeah. I'll go get Amy."

As she leaves, Link gives out a content sigh. He walks to the side where he left his sword, shield and bag of items before equiping them. Siegfried approaches him, saying, "I see you're preparing to leave."

"Yeah. I honestly think it's best I live in Hyrule. Not only is Cassandra okay with it, but Amy would do better growing up in a society that will understand her difference," Link explains before he sees Cassandra with Amy coming up to them. Behind the girls are their friends and family.

"You ready?" Cassandra asks before taking Amy hand and standing beside Link.

"Yup." Link then plays the Song of Time, a song that causes butterflies to rise in his wife's stomach.

'He looks so calm, so serene playing that...I'm so glad I met him; it definitely wasn't a mistake giving him a chance back at that hotel.' Cassandra clucks her shoes together, the same shoes Link bought for her near the start of their journey.

As Link finishes the Astral Chaos opens up behind them. Before they leave, Sophitia says, "Good luck Link, Cassie! I hope the gods look after you for the rest of your lives!"

'Which ones?' Link thinks to himself.

"Take care of my daughter, Link!" Achelous says to him.

"Good bye everyone!" Link and Cassandra say in unison, before the three of them walk through the portal to the other side. It closes up behind them, and instead of staying in the astral world they end up in another world; this lush, green field that Link remembers so leads him to believe that he's finally back in Hyrule.

"Wow..." Cassandra and Amy look in awe at Link's beautiful world.

Link bends down and places two flowers in their hair before saying, "Welcome to Hyrule."

"Link, this place is so pretty! I can't believe you didn't want me to come here!" Cassandra gushes at the scenery. Amy is just awestruck.

"So Amy, what do you think?" asks Link of his adopted daughter.

The red haired little girl blushes a bit before looking away. "It's...nice..."

Link plays a song on the Ocarina, one that Amy likes, and all of a sudden a horse comes racing towards them. Cassandra gushes and blushes seeing the horse. Link boards the horse, saying, "Girls, this is Epona. She's my horse."

"Wow. So you do have a horse!" Cassandra lifts Amy in her arms to board Epona, who was at first reluctant.

"Calm down, girl. She's a very important person to me," Link says to Epona. Nodding the horse accepts her, knowing how well Link is at judging people. "Alright, first stop is Hyrule Castle. We need to explain everything to the Royal Knights. Then I'll start teaching you both Hylian. It should be easy for you, since you have the Triforce of Wisdom."

"Okay; I'll do my best!" With that, Link takes off at full speed aboard Epona towards the market place.

Back At Earth...

Dark Link slashes down a tree out of anger. "Damn! I missed my chance! ...Oh well. I'll eventually find a way to get there. This plan might take some time."

Noticing people coming, he disappears in a flash of darkness. As they do Mitsurugi comes riding in on a donkey. Everyone blankly stares at him. "...What?"

Ten Years...

Time has passed for both Hyrule and Earth, and neither world has had any real trouble threatening them in the timeline. In Hyrule 31 year old Cassandra Alexandra sits by a garden reading a story. "Interesting."

"Mom!" The blond mother looks to her left to see a young girl of age 9 coming up to her. She has long, blond hair that spikes up into curves at the edges. "Mom, I found a fairy!"

The little girl opens her hands, revealing a red fairy floating between them. Cassandra smiles happily. "Wow, nice catch Sophia!"

"Whatcha reading?" she asks, curious over the book her mother owns.

"It's just a history of Hyrule. And here, look!" Cassie shows her a picture of a hero who descended from the skies and drove away evil.

"Ah, it's dad!" Sophia says in shock.

"Yeah! I thought that too!" Cassandra gives a smile. "Link can traverse through time after all."

"Wait til Mana sees this!" Sophia says as she looks at her father.

"Cassie, have you seen Amy?" Link calls out from above the house. He jumps down to her level gracefully. "It's time for sword training."

"Link, I really think you should cut out the training. You promised you would drop the sword, remember?"

"I did; the Master Sword is still sealed back at the Temple of Time. I'm just glad they rebuilt it," he says as he holds up a regular longsword. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with her learning how to defend herself.

"Still, where is she?" Link starts to look around for her.

"She went to visit the Kokori Forest," says the mother. Link's eyes widen in shock.

"Alone? You know how dangerous it is to cross the Lost Woods alone, especially at night. We don't need her becoming a Stalfos." Sheathing his blade Link takes off for the forest, the Triforce of Courage glowing on his left hand.

"Link, wait!" Link comes back to see Cassandra. "Don't forget your items."

"Oh yeah, thanks." Link rushes back inside the home to grab the bag of items he always brings with him. "Thanks."

The Hylian comes out of the house and gives Cassandra a quick kiss. She grabs hold of his head and throws a great amount of passion his way. "I'm so glad you stopped wearing that hat; it makes doing that easier."

Link smiles at her before taking off. "We'll be back by dinner!"

He comes to the forest after a short run from Hyrule Castle. Unknown to him this would lead to the events of an adventure that wouldn't star him. Still, these events will bring about a true conclusion to Link's battles as a hero, and start the life of a hero for two members of his family.

* * *

Kenshin: This chapter is over!

TCM: THIS STORY IS OVER!

Yusei: WE'RE FINALLY FINISHED!

Manabu: It's taken exactly 5 years, but we did it! We ended A Love Forged by Blades and Souls!

Julia: Let's hope the sequel doesn't take this long.

Tenji: The very next chapter will be an alternate ending, but it won't be a real chapter. If anything it might not even be posted as a chapter.

Manabu: Let's take a moment to thank our reviewers, the ten who gave the most support: Dark Lord Link, Kaien Kurayami, Sindal, Optima99, .Godot, Lintu Hitose, OneWingedHeron53, Auresque, Aleol, and Highwayman Myth.

Yusei: The sequel story will detail the events of Soulcalibur V through the eyes of Mana, Patroklos, and the others.

TCM: Thank you everyone for your support these five years!


End file.
